Malaysia to retrench 4,700 electronics workers
Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 22:00 IST
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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is to retrench at least 4,749 workers, mostly from the electronics sector, that has a large number of technical personnel from South Asia, according to a news report. Foreigners retrenched by 137 employers over the next three months would have to return home as per their job contracts, Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying. The minister said the number of people to be retrenched included some 1,500 workers at data storage firm Western Digital in Kuching, Sarawak state, and were updated as of Monday, the newspaper said. "My ministry will ensure that the workers get the compensation due to them." Subramaniam said under the Employment (Termination And Lay-off Benefits) Regulations, workers would be compensated a part of their salary for each year of service. For workers who have been with a company for two years or less, compensation would be 10 days of salary per year of work. For those who clocked in between two and five years, it would be 15 days of salary per year and for those above five years, 20 days. Subramaniam said the government would look into getting alternative employment for the workers or retrain them. "So far, we have not held dialogues with these workers but we will be contacting them soon and setting up counselling sessions," he said. The prosperous Southeast Asian economy is hit by global recession. Subramaniam said he was not sure whether the number of retrenched workers would increase but added that some things were beyond the government's control. "However, we will ensure the retrenchment is done fairly," he said.
Source: IANS
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