Press Statement By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In Komtar, George Town On 7.1.2018.
I wish to clarify my comments yesterday, which reported me stating that there will be no worker retrenchments in Penang, in reference to Malaysian Employers Federation(MEF)’s expectation of 50,000 retrenchments of workers in 2018. This is not correct. What I meant is that any worker retrenchments in Penang will not affect Penang, because there will be more jobs chasing workers than worker chasing jobs. Penang has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Malaysia at 2%.
There will be worker retrenchments in Penang, when companies close as part of the ordinary course of business. Any worker retrenchments will not affect Penang because more companies will open than close. In fact sustained economic growth in the manufacturing, services and tourism sector will create more employment opportunities until Penang is still expected to face a shortage of around 20,000 workers.
For the first 6 months of 2017, Penang topped the investment charts in Malaysia with RM7.7 billion and 8,162 new jobs. The tourism sector saw hotel occupancy rate increase by 6%, with the Penang International Airport recording an increase in passenger load of around 8% in 2017.
LIM GUAN ENG
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-槟州首席部长林冠英于2018年1月7日在乔治市发表声明：
我要澄清我昨天的声明，报道指我针对马来西亚雇主联合会预计2018年将有5万名工人被裁时，我回应说“槟城将不会有裁员”。这是不正确的。我的意思是说裁员不会影响槟城，因为在槟城还有很多空缺，工找人，而不是人找工。槟城的失业率是全马是低之一，只有2%。
槟城也会面对裁中，公司的关闭是商界的普遍现象。然而，裁员并不会影响槟城，因为进驻槟城做生意的公司将会多过关闭的公司。事实上，在制造业、服务业及旅游业持续的成长，将为槟城带来更多就业机会，直到槟城还是面对2万个空缺。
2017年首六个月，槟城在投资额榜上名列前茅，达77亿令吉，创造了8162个就业机会。旅游业方面，酒店住客率上升了6%，槟城国际机场的承客量在2017年也增加了约8%。
林冠英