MANAGEMENT-LEVEL WORKERS (Number retrenched)

Dr Lee Tsao Yuan asked the Minister for Manpower what is the number of management-level workers, particularly the older ones, who have been retrenched as a result of the economic crisis.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Encik Othman Bin Haron Eusofe) (for the Minister for Manpower): The Ministry of Manpower's survey on private sector establishments with at least 25 employees showed that a total of 29,086 workers were retrenched in 1998. 5,830 of them were previously holding higher skilled jobs as managers, executives, professionals and technicians, an increase from 1,779 in 1997. About one in every three of the retrenched who were holding higher skilled jobs were at least 40 years old.