Following media reports that the Malaysian Employers Federation estimates that 30,000 Malaysians will lose their jobs this year, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran dismisses that and says that there will be more jobs instead. So who will be right come 1 January 2020 ???
30,000 workers to be laid off this year, says MEF
Kong See Hoh / 14 Feb 2019
MALAYSIAN Employers Federation (MEF) estimates that 30,000 workers will be laid off this year, citing the increasing cost of business as the main reason for the big jump in retrenchment.
Last year, about 21,000 people lost their jobs.
Given the bleak outlook for the job market, MEF urged the government to help employers retain their workers so that both employers and employees can benefit soonest when the economy recovers.
MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan (pix) pointed out that the economy both within and without Malaysia was on the downward trend, posing a big challenge to employers in maintaining their current level of profitability.
"Employers' main concern is the increasingly higher input costs.
"In Peninsular Malaysia, employers are not only affected by the 10% hike in minimum wage but also the new policy requiring them to pay Socso for their foreign workers.
"We can expect some employers to revamp their business model, resulting in retrenchment."
Shamsuddin said this when asked by Nanyang Siang Pau for his take on the economic outlook for Malaysia and the challenges facing employers.
He said last year, which saw some 21,000 employees retrenched, was not too bad compared with 2017 in which about 30,000 were laid off.
But the situation will take a turn for the worse this year, to the extent that smaller companies might not be able to survive.
What employers need most during trying times is government assistance, he said, and urged the new Pakatan Harapan government not to introduce measures that will increase the input costs.
He suggested that the government provide incentives for employers to retain their employees instead.
HR Minister dismisses MEF claim 30,000 people to lose jobs this year
18 Feb 2019 / 20:38 H
PETALING JAYA: Human Resource Minister M. Kula Segaran today dismissed a claim by the Malaysian Employers Federation that about 30,000 people will lose their jobs this year.
"On the contrary, with less than 24,000 unemployment (positions) recorded last year, there are actually more jobs readily available for them.
"The unemployment rate shows nothing unusual, nothing frightening," he told reporters after witnessing the signing of the collective agreement (CA) between Continental Tyre Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTM) and the Continental Tyre Malaysia Sdn Bhd Staff Association (COMSA) here today. CTM director and chief financial officer Hoe Loo Fee was also present.
MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said recently he estimated that 30,000 workers would be laid off this year, and cited the increasing cost of doing business as the main reason for the big jump in the retrenchment number.
Shamsuddin had said that the economic environment both within and without Malaysia was tough, posing a big challenge for employers in maintaining their profitability.
Meanwhile, the CA signed today offers additional remuneration and a benefits package to CTM employees, including the opportunity to work from home and flexi hours. — Bernama
Some years ago, blogger OutSyed the Box predicted that 20 years from then (around 15 years from now plus or minus), Malaysian woman will be working as maids in Indonesia.
Now this article of 19 February 2019 predicts that more Malaysians will be working as labourers abroad and this is an aspect of the much touted and glorified globalisation.
Malaysians had better get their faces out of their smartphone screens and learn to say "Yes boss", "Sure boss", "Right away boss", "Anything you ask boss" to their Myanmar, Indonesian or Bangladeshi employers.
Expect more Malaysians working as labourers overseas, say experts
Ainaa Aiman - February 19, 2019 12:18 PM
PETALING JAYA: Experts warn that more Malaysians may have to work overseas as migrant workers and maids if the economy does not improve, following the detention and release of 47 Malaysians duped into working in Cambodia.
Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said this included Malaysians working overseas as legal and even illegal workers if the economy worsens.
"We have to take grim lessons from some regional countries which were very well-to-do compared to us half a century ago. They now have to send many of their nationals overseas to work, including to Malaysia," he said.
Oh said Malaysians selling their labour overseas was nothing new, citing the exit of many who lost their mining jobs in the 1970s who left to work menial or semi-skilled jobs in the US and Europe.
"What is surprising is only that it happened in Cambodia, which is considered to be lagging in development compared to Malaysia," he said.
He believes it is only a matter of time before a large number of Malaysians end up working as maids or low-skilled workers overseas.
He added however that people were free to migrate elsewhere to improve their personal well-being.
"If the economy grows, the outflow (of labour) will naturally drop. As we create more high-paying jobs by liberalising the economy, people will stay," he said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Ziegenhain, an expert in Southeast Asian regional economics, said there were already many Malaysians working as immigrant workers in countries like Australia and Korea.
"Many people in Malaysia make a sharp distinction between the 'original Malaysians' who do not do cheap and hard labour in plantations, etc, and the 'immigrants' who do this," he said, adding that this was a negative development.
"Malaysians tend to look down on other allegedly less developed countries like Indonesia – in this case, Cambodia. Why is it so impossible to imagine that Malaysians would become immigrant workers there?"
Madeline Berma, an economist who specialises in rural development, said this was a globalisation phenomenon.
"Among the features of globalisation are international migration, human trafficking, borderless work, and free flow of resources including labour," she added.
She said the Malaysians who were stuck in Cambodia had not received proper information about their employers before leaving.
"They took up the offer to work with limited information on the employers. They took the risk without understanding the legal implications," she said.
She also noted that the majority of the detainees were from rural Sarawak, showing that rural youths were particularly vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation.
She suggested that schools and NGOs hold awareness programmes to educate youths about human trafficking.
The 47 Malaysians were picked up by police in Phnom Penh after reportedly being hoodwinked by a recruitment agency which promised them high-paying jobs.
They were released by the Cambodian government following negotiations with Wisma Putra.
Time will tell. Meanwhile, let's stay tuned and see who is right.
Yours truly
Politischeiss
