Badawi: Lay-offs inevitable

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/17/2009 3:54 PM 

With the global economic downturn, mass lay-offs of workers were inevitable in Malaysia and Indonesia, Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Tuesday in Jakarta. 

"What is happening here is happening in every country. Economic crises will always impact employment," Badawi said during a joint press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after an annual bilateral meeting at the State Palace. 

"Lay-offs or decreases to working hours are inevitable," he said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. 

The Malaysian government was working hard to prevent lay-offs, and had delivered an economic stimulus program last month, Badawi said. 

President Yudhoyono, adding to Badawi's statement, said that in facing the problem both countries would continue to work together. 

"We will manage this together, to maintain workers' contribution to development - and to protect them," he said. 

The Indonesian government has feared that of 2 million Indonesian workers in Malaysia, 300,000 in various industries would face possible retrenchment because of declining production orders. (dre)