Another round?

SARAWAKIANS are worried yet again over the possibility of another round of downsizing of oil-and-gas workforce, especially in Miri.

It is believed that some employees of an oil company in the city had received letters of retrenchment. They are highlighting their concerns on social media.

This development has generated concerns in society at large because the oil-and-gas industry creates a lot of spin offs in the economy, especially in the housing and food sectors.

There are rumblings that the multinational oil outfit also planned a restructuring of its businesses in Malaysia, affecting its operations in Miri.

Many employees are aware of the downsizing exercise and highlighted their woes to the political circles. They also want Government to intervent and stop this mass termination of staff.

The global oil sector has been hard hit by the drop in market prices since 2014.

In Malaysia, the situation is made worse by the decline in our ringgit against foreign currencies. Under this circumstances, a new round of jobs cut looks inevitable.

In fact, over the past three years, more than 2,000 oil workers in Miri have been asked to find other jobs. It started off with Shell in late 2014.

Politicians from Miri Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) appealed to Shell to retain more locals at Shell’s office in the city.

Shell set up a mobility centre in Miri to help retrain affected staff for the job market amid protest from SUPP.

The party felt that the restructuring must not involve mass retrenchment as it would lead to adverse social and economic impact.

However, during the period between 2015 and 2017, up to 1,300 Shell jobs, many in Miri, were cut.

The new round of retrenchment is poised to take place by the end of this year.

Staff who had been notified of a possible retrenchment are worried they may not be able to find another decent job, especially amid the current economic uncertainties.

Businesses in Miri are also concerned over the cascading effect of major job cuts on other economic activities.

The downsizing of oil-and-gas workforce will badly hit Miri’s housing sector, which is already suffering from a glut due to the mass exodus of expatriates since 2015.

Looks like things are going to get bad all over again.


Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/views/2017...M6opxEvYAypX.99