Job Cuts-The UK Scenario

I got this from the WWW this morning (9 June 2009).

This is the result of a quarterly survey by a recruitment firm on the hiring momentum of workers for the next three months(July-September 2009)

I think we can use such a model in Malaysia to help us to foresight the impending state of the economy in the near future.

The report stated that British companies expect to keep cutting jobs in the next three months,but the pace of job-shedding appears to be easing in some sectors.

They have seasonally adjusted net balance of -6 per cent of firms planning to cut jobs between July and September — matching the 17-year record low hit in the second quarter.

The survey has reinforced analysts' expectations for unemployment to keep rising for the rest of this year and to hit 3 million by 2010.

However, the weak headline number masked signs of improvement in some sectors. The utilities and community and social sectors plan to hire staff in the next three months and hiring intentions were flat in the agriculture sector.

Companies in the construction, financial and business services, mining and utilities sectors were less reluctant to take on workers than in the previous quarter.

Hotels and retailers, however, were their most reluctant to hire staff since 1992. And hiring intentions in all the sectors were worse than a year ago.

"While it is too early to say if the worst is behind us in the UK, it is promising to see a slower rate of decline in employer hiring confidence now emerge," said Mark Cahill, managing director of Manpower UK. — Reuters

So what about us in Malaysia?

Has unemployment figures in E&E and in the manufacturing sector abated or still throwing out people onto the streets?

Which sector has showed positive employment figures and which have stable manpower status? How are we coping with labour vacancies in the plantation sector?

I am sure the Ministry of Manpower is busy crunching numbers. Hopefully a set of good ones to allay the fears of the politicians that we are definitely on the way to recovery.