Izah Azahari
There were 60,293 foreign workers with valid work passes in November 2022, according to a Labour Department census taken last year, said Minister of Home Affairs Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman during yesterday’s 19th Legislative Council (LegCo) session.
LegCo member Yang Berhormat Haji Salleh Bostaman bin Haji Zainal Abidin inquired on the number of work permits.
The minister in his response said 16,444 foreign workers are in the construction sector, 12,191 in the wholesale, retail and vehicle repair sector and 8,386 in the accomodation and food service sector.
The minister said a majority of the foreign workers (30,612) are aged between 30 to 40.
Meanwhile, in terms of education, a total of 50,643 are at the secondary, technical and vocational levels or below.
“Looking at the statistics, there is space for local youth to fill job vacancies. The question now is whether they want to do so,” he said.
The minister said the highest number of foreign workers employed are Indonesian, Bangladesh and Philippines nationals.
In an effort to provide employment opportunities to local youth, the minister said the Labour Department is collaborating with JobCentre Brunei. Confirmation needs to be obtained from JobCentre Brunei to ensure that a foreign workers licence is approved by the Labour Department.
