Over 30,000 Workers Retrenched Nationwide

SHAH ALAM, April 16 (Bernama) -- Some 30,650 foreign and local workers were retrenched nationwide as of Tuesday this year, Human Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan said.

They comprised 23,149 workers who were laid off under the retrenchment scheme while the rest had resigned on their own accord, she said.

However, some 2,900 of the retrenched local workers had been re-employed in the private and public sectors, she told Bernama after presenting prizes for a skills competition at the Advanced Technology Training Centre here today.

She said that the government was aware of the plight of workers and had made it among the priority under the second stimulus package.

Among the measures identified was the creation of some 163,000 training and employment opportunities in the public and private sectors.

She also said that the ministry was implementing existing and new training programmes in collaboration with the industry and companies, especially those in the electronic, welding, robotics and constructions.

"The ministry is also setting up 22 JobsMalaysia centres and improving the 109 existing centres to provide easy access to information about training and job openings," she said.