MALAYSIA: Employees in Malaysia have been displaying itchy feet since wemoved into 2007. A new study by research and consulting company ISR hasfound that organisations across Asia-Pacific are at risk of losing theirmost talented people, with Malaysian star staff the least committed totheir employers. A significant proportion of the firms surveyed have alarge percentage of employees who are either disillusioned with theiremployer or fully disengaged. Among the 'talent-at-risk' group inMalaysia, 69% say that they will leave their job as soon as they have anacceptable offer. It seems that retention of top talent is a globalproblem.
USA/CANADA: A total of 13,000 jobs are to go in one swoop, as car groupDaimlerChrysler responds to disappointing sales figures. The jobs willgo at its loss-making unit Chrysler, with one factory in Newark,Delaware, closing down entirely. The other cuts will be made in both theUS and Canada. The company, which has a total workforce of 83,000, hasbeen hit - along with the other two major US carmakers, Ford and GeneralMotors - by tough competition from Japanese manufactures. Overall over90,0000 jobs from the 'big three' will be lost.
ZIMBABWE: First doctors and nurses went on strike, then a number ofteachers and university lecturers. Now 'agitated' civil servants areconsidering protesting as Zimbabwe spirals further into economicmeltdown. The country, which has the highest inflation rate in the worldat 1,593.6%, is plagued by more than 80% unemployment. Critics blamepresident Robert Mugabe's policies, particularly his land reformprogramme.
