Cover Pinkcollar is an ethical recruitment agency in Malaysia that aims to reduce exploitation and improve working conditions through responsible practices and comprehensive support services (Photo: Midjourney)
Pinkcollar is an ethical recruitment agency in Malaysia that aims to reduce exploitation and improve working conditions through responsible practices and comprehensive support services (Photo: Midjourney)
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Zenna Law’s Pinkcollar is setting new standards in ethical employment, reshaping Malaysia’s domestic worker industry
Social entrepreneur Zenna Law is driven by a profound sense of empathy and compassion for migrant workers. From a young age, Law formed a deep connection with a Filipino domestic worker employed by her family. “She taught me how to ride a bike, and I formed a close bond with her. I even got to know her son, who called her often,” Law recalls.
This connection had a lasting impact on Law. Years later, while volunteering at a social service organisation in Moscow after university, Law encountered a group of Filipino migrant workers stranded in Russia. They had been deceived by recruitment agents who had promised them jobs in Europe.
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Law’s experience with the exploited workers in Russia opened her eyes to a global issue. “That incident made me realise the problem of unethical recruitment practices was far more widespread than I had initially thought,” she says.
Beyond that, she credits her experience in Russia for building her resilience to uncomfortable and unfamiliar environments, which ultimately emboldened her to take her first steps towards becoming a social entrepreneur.
The beginnings of Pinkcollar
Above Pinkcollar co-founder Sophia Aliza Jamal (third from left) and Zenna Law (fourth from left) at the Fair Training Center, a nonprofit training center with the mission to end forced labour and prevent trafficking of Filipino migrant workers (Photo: Pinkcollar)
Pinkcollar co-founder Sophia Aliza Jamal (third from left) and Zenna Law (fourth from left) at the Fair Training Center, a nonprofit training center with the mission to end forced labour and prevent trafficking of Filipino migrant workers (Photo: Pinkcollar)
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After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and East European studies, Law joined several social innovation programmes, including one by a United Nations affiliate called Unleash. “I spent two weeks developing social business models. That was where I conceived the idea for an ethical recruitment agency and named it Pinkcollar,” she explains.
In 2017, Law was selected as a finalist for the World Bank Youth Summit. There, Pinkcollar clinched a victory in a pitch competition. She attributes their success to the invaluable support of MDEC, a Malaysian government agency driving the country’s digital economy. Under the leadership of Yasmin Mahmood, then CEO, MDEC provided crucial coaching and guidance to help Law and her team prepare their winning pitch.
Winning the competition opened doors for Pinkcollar. Law eventually connected with Scott Stiles, the co-founder and CEO of Fair Employment Agency, a social enterprise that strives to find work for foreign domestic workers without illegal fees or crippling debts. Drawing from his experience, Stiles mentored Law and provided valuable insights and guidance to Pinkcollar to establish an ethical recruitment agency in Malaysia.
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A zero-placement-fee policy
Five years on, Pinkcollar has successfully matched over 600 Filipino and Indonesian workers with employers across Peninsular Malaysia. Pinkcollar’s unique approach is a zero-placement-fee policy. “Migrant workers who come through our doors never pay any recruitment fees to find a job in Malaysia. All they need to do is interview for the job,” Law explains.
She adds that Pinkcollar has helped reduce recruitment debt among migrant workers by RM500,000 through their no-placement-fee, no-illegal-salary-deductions policy.
Starting a social impact business like Pinkcollar has been both challenging and rewarding for Law. “I knew that if I had the chance to start my own organisation, I’d want to create a self-sustaining business model where our work generates revenue,” Law says. “It’s about offering a product that customers genuinely want to pay for.” The profits generated are then reinvested to further the organisation’s social mission.
A pivotal moment in Law’s social entrepreneurship journey was when she had to decide whether to establish a recruitment agency. “When Fair Employment Agency advised us to become an actual agency, I was initially resistant. I didn’t want to be part of the same system that other unethical agencies operated in. However, I understood that to operate legally and make a real difference, we needed the licence,” she explains.
This realisation led Law to a new perspective. She decided to take up the challenge to be the best, most ethical agency in Malaysia; to turn a potential obstacle into an opportunity and set a new standard in the industry.
Leading the charge
Law notes a shift in Malaysia’s recruitment industry towards an ethical recruitment model. Initially, Pinkcollar was the sole voice for ethical practices, but there is now a growing adoption of responsible recruitment.
The increased focus on ethical recruitment has led to greater transparency in pricing and processes, with more agencies following Pinkcollar’s lead. There is also an enhanced emphasis on educating employers and sharing accurate information about hiring processes and costs. Pinkcollar’s practices are influencing industry standards, particularly in pricing structures.
Despite these positive changes, challenges remain. Law acknowledges that some agencies may claim ethical practices without proper implementation. To address this, she suggests the need for a standardised assessment model to verify ethical practices, potentially involving organisations like the UN Migration Agency. This evolution in the recruitment industry reflects a growing awareness of the importance of ethical practices, particularly in the domestic worker sector, and points towards a future where ethical recruitment becomes the norm rather than the exception.
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“Last month marked our fifth year of operations,” said Law. “Currently, we’re focused on growing the business and achieving operational sustainability. We’re optimistic about reaching profitability this year and maintaining it into the next.”
Looking to the future, Pinkcollar aims to become a leader in the ethical recruitment space. Once profitability is achieved, Law hopes to further develop the entire migrant worker ecosystem in Malaysia, similar to what has been done in Hong Kong.
One area Law is keen to explore is microfinancing for migrant workers. At present, “Malaysia lacks any financial services tailored to this group—they can't even secure a basic loan,” she said. Law said the idea draws inspiration from successful microfinancing initiatives in places like Hong Kong and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
Microfinancing is crucial for migrant workers, who are often in poverty. “Realistically, workers will need money from time to time. They’ll need access to funds and employers will either have to provide these loans or advances. If they don’t, the only option for migrant workers is to turn to illegal loan sharks, which is extremely dangerous. That’s definitely something I hope we'll be able to address in the future, collaborating with other companies to make this happen.”
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The life of a social entrepreneur
During the interview, we also asked Law some rapid-fire questions to learn what it means to be a social entrepreneur today and the advice she would share with aspiring founders.
What's a typical weekday like for you?
Zenna Law (ZL): I’m in the office about three times a week. After work, I try to maintain a balance by working out three to four times a week. I usually do yoga or reformer pilates in the evenings or catch up with friends. I believe in maintaining a good work-life balance.
How do you set boundaries between your professional and personal life, especially with so much on your plate?
ZL: It’s all about prioritisation. I set clear priorities for each month or quarter. If there’s an idea that seems worth exploring but isn’t urgent, we might push it to a later time. This discipline helps us stay focused and maintain boundaries between work and life. Of course, there are times, maybe a few times each quarter, when we need to work harder due to deadlines or emergencies but that's expected.
At Pinkcollar, the work we do is emotionally challenging because it’s very human-focused. To maintain a healthy culture, I make sure that the team has balance. We focus on efficiency—working well without wasting unnecessary time on inefficient processes. We constantly encourage feedback and review our processes to improve them.
You mentioned expanding your impact. How do you identify when it’s time to let go of an idea that isn’t working out?
ZL: As a founder, it can be tough to admit something isn’t working. There’s no linear process for this. You have to distinguish between normal entrepreneurial challenges and signs that it's time to pivot or let go. In the early days of Pinkcollar, I had moments where things felt stagnant but my passion for the issue kept me going.
Being open to feedback and reflecting on whether your work aligns with your personal values is crucial. For me, my professional pursuits always felt aligned with my strengths and values, which kept me motivated. Developing self-awareness is important and it can change over time.
It’s also essential to be a leader who’s open to admitting when something isn’t right. As an organisation, we’ve always been reflective, accountable and open to feedback. It’s not about defending past decisions but about being willing to adjust and grow.
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