Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Government
Education
Search
Search:
Parent companies of some MNCs to cut jobs; staff in S’pore may be affected
Channel NewsAsia - 2 hours 36 minutes ago
SINGAPORE: Many multinational corporations are planning to retrench workers in Asia due to the economic downturn. Among them are Sony Electronics and Nomura, a financial services group. It’s believed staff at their Singapore offices will be affected.
Sony’s Japan headquarters announced that it is cutting 8,000 jobs worldwide as demand for consumer electronic goods has slowed significantly.
Sony said its headquarters is now reviewing its operations in each country.
While there are no specific numbers available for Singapore, what’s clear is that Sony is cutting costs.
Reports have also said that Japan’s biggest brokerage Nomura is laying off 100 people in Asia this year, including some in Singapore.
It is said the positions will be in its equity operations in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.
Nomura said it’s evaluating business opportunities and is now making strategic decisions about resource allocation and employee numbers.
Singapore’s labour movement urged Sony and Nomura to justify the headcount cut.
Halimah Yacob, Deputy Secretary—General, NTUC, said: "What these two companies will have to do is to explain the circumstances under which these retrenchments are being carried out, that they have exhausted all other possibilities and not just merely say this is the headquarters’ instruction to them."
Madam Halimah doesn’t believe the latest retrenchments will trigger a snowball effect, prompting other MNCs to do the same.
She added: "Workers do look at the kind of employers they want to work with so when employers resort to retrenchments when there’s no necessity, then obviously when times are better and they need workers they’ll find it a lot harder to get workers."
Observers said it’s not entirely surprising that companies like those in the electronics and finance industries are resorting to retrenchments. But companies are once again reminded to implement and exhaust all the tripartite guidelines first to cut costs.
Some measures under the guidelines include introducing shorter work weeks and flexible work arrangements. — CNA/vm
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: Singapore
Singapore students top in science, beaten in mathReuters - 45 minutes ago
Singapore’s largest gift box brings festive cheer to nearly 500 needy childrenChannel NewsAsia - 1 hour 2 minutes ago
Cruise ships still making way to S’pore, despite tough economic timesChannel NewsAsia - 1 hour 20 minutes ago
Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics hits S$17m endowment targetChannel NewsAsia - 1 hour 38 minutes ago
Singapore excels in latest Mathematics and Science studyChannel NewsAsia - 1 hour 39 minutes ago
Enlarge Photo
Parent companies of some MNCs to cut jobs; staff in S’pore may be affected
Most Popular – Singapore
Viewed
Financial crisis tipped to cut cost of air travel
Muslim pilgrims stone Satan at the hajj
Stocks take flight on prospects for anti-recession moves
Oil price falls below $40
Dow Chemical to cut 5,000 jobs, close 20 facilities
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular