About 44,000 Malaysians were retrenched last year and the outlook will worsen this year, said the Malaysian Employers Federation.<\/p>\n
Its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said 31,476 people have already been laid-off up to September this year.<\/p>\n
The next few weeks would also be the most crucial as employers usually laid off workers around year-end to avoid bonus payments and increments, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened in the US and Europe will have a lot of bearing on the sustainability of our employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the US President-elect (Donald Trump) takes a protective stand, this will be more difficult for the export market. \u00a0The same things may happen in parts of Europe such as the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shamsuddin added that on the home front, the market is discouraging with the increase in prices of products despite consumers trying to save.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not helping growth,\u201d he said during a press conference after the launch of the federation\u2019s survey on salaries.<\/p>\n