Construction workers ravailable

Need construction workers? No problem, there are more than 32,000 available for choosing. According to The Star newspaper a force of 12,000 foreign workers and over 10,000 locals registered with the Construction Labour Exchange Centre Bhd (CLAB) can be deployed to any contractor short of manpower.

CLAB chief executive Azlan Mohd Isa said there was no reason for contractors not to make use of them.

He said the 22,000 workers were involved in construction projects throughout the country but were available when their jobs were done.

“We encourage contractors to come to us because it is cheaper to source labour through us than through agents.

“If contractors’ needs do not match our local work pool, we will look to the foreign workforce to fulfil their needs. The aim is to reduce the intake of new foreign workers,” he said.

“Workers registered with us get insurance and compensation benefits and we provide comprehensive welfare to our workers,” Azlan said.

EPF retirement Increases in third quarter

Despite caution about income indequacy post-retirement, the withdrawal have increased last quarter. According to Bernama report, some RM1.97bil was withdrawn under the Employees Provident Fund Retirement Withdrawals in the third quarter of 2009, an increase from the RM1.64bil in the corresponding period last year.

Some RM1.41bil of the RM1.97bil, was withdrawn as Lump Sum Age 55 Withdrawal, up 14.2% from that in Q3 2008, EPF said in a statement on its unaudited results on Wednesday.

EPF chief executive officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol said the remaining RM557.05mil was withdrawn under the Flexible Age 55 Withdrawal, up 38.05% from the RM403.51mil last year.

“Nonetheless, 72% of retirement withdrawals still consist of lump sum withdrawals. We hope to see this amount decrease over time as more members become increasingly aware that lump sum withdrawal will likely lead to income inadequacy during retirement,” he said.

The report also quoted Azlan as saying members had exercised greater prudence and care in making withdrawals for housing as showed by a more cautious behaviour due to the present economic conditions.

Malaysia Still In Short of Engineers.

Few months back, reports of shortage of engineers surfaced. Well, it resurfaced again in form of an interview with Starbiz (The Stars Newspaper's business section).

The newpaper was quoting Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) chief executive officer Datuk Boonler Somchit who said that the country is not producing sufficient engineers to meet the needs of the technology sector, which will undermine the country’s competitive edge as a destination for foreign direct investments

He told StarBiz, citing data from the Education Ministry, that both public and private universities in the country produced over 13,700 first-degree graduates in engineering last year, which “is not adequate to meet the needs of the technology sector in the country.”

“Let us say if a multinational corporation (MNC) requires 50 engineers, 100 MNCs would need 5,000 engineers.

“The 13,700 fresh graduates that we produce is definitely not enough to go round to meet the needs of the MNCs and local technology companies,” he said.

In Penang, there are 760 companies in the free industrial zone and industrial estates, of which 20 are multinational corporations involved in designing and development work, according to Boonler.

Readers can go read the entire article in The Star's online portal.

Doctorates Amongst Registered in Ministry's Job Portal.

DOCTORATE holders are among those who registered with JobsMalaysia, a government portal to help graduates get jobs.

Wired agency, Bernama quoted Deputy Human Resources Minis-ter Senator Datuk Maznah Mazlan as saying that from the 69,760 job hunters who registered with the portal, 18 held doctorates, 1,165 had Masters degrees, 36,985 were Bachelor degree holders while 31,592 had diplomas.

As of last Friday, she added Universiti Teknologi Mara graduates topped the list from public universities with 12,768 applications.

This was followed by Universiti Utara Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with 4,151 and 2,943 applicants respectively.

The report also noted that the majority majored in business administration, electric, electronics and telecommunications engineering, mechanical and mechatronics engineering, accounts and pure sciences.

“The number of job hunters, however, does not reflect fully on the unemployment rate among the graduates as some are already working but are hoping to get a better job or seeking to switch jobs,” she said.

Microsoft PowerPoint Tutorials, Tips and Tricks plus Presentation Skill

Although get other similar applications in the market, but Microsoft PowerPoint is still widely used, especially in corporate business. Business people use it as doing presentation slide, sell product, business plan, marketing concept and more.

Is better you know to use Microsoft PowerPoint; this will make you easier to get job. You even can create a creative and attractive presentation slide to selling yourself during the interview.

Microsoft PowerPoint is not difficult to learn and use. But how to create an effective presentation is another issue. Here get 5 useful Microsoft PowerPoint resources for your reference:

Microsoft PowerPoint Team Blog



An official blog from Microsoft. You can get latest tips, news and announcements from Microsoft.

The PowerPoint Blog



Clean and clear step by step tutorial blog.

PPT – Powerful Presentation Techniques



Useful information and resources about PowerPoint presentation skill.

PowerPoint Ninja



The PowerPoint Ninja Blog covers practical PowerPoint topics, tips, and tricks.

Presentation Zen



Talk all about related professional presentation design. Don’t miss this blog, the article will encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations.

193 Employers Fined For EPF Default

Blame it on the economy or poor neglicience? About one hundred and ninety-three employers were slapped with fines totaling RM278,970 by the courts for failing to remit the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions of their employees during the third-quarter of this year.

According to Bernama report, during the same period, 1,913 criminal cases were filed by the EPF against errant employers for defaulting on their employees' contributions.

The EPF had also submitted the names of 234 errant company directors to the immigration department to prevent them from leaving the country without first settling their arrears, said the fund's general manager of public relations Nik Affendi Jaafar, in a statement.

"The rate of defaulting employers during this quarter has registered a drop of 1.73 per cent as compared to 1.81 per cent in the previous quarter," he said.

The report also quoted him as saying that the drop showed that more employers were aware of their role in their employees' retirement well-being.

Nevertheless, Nik Affendi said, members should check their statements to ensure the correct and timely remittance of their contributions. Point taken by all employers, we hope.

Very Light Management Lessons

From the cyberspace (don't read if some words offend you):

LESSON 1
A junior manager, a senior manager and their boss are on their way to a meeting.
On their way through a park, they come across a wonder lamp.
They rub the lamp and a ghost appears.
The ghost says :
" Normally, one is granted three wishes, but as you are three, I will allow one wish each. "
So the eager senior manager shouted : " I want the first wish.
I want to be in the Bahamas , on a fast boat and have no worries."
Pfufffff .... and he was gone.
Now the junior manager could not keep quiet and shouted :
" I want to be in Florida with beautiful girls, plenty of food and cocktails.. "
Pfufffff .... And he was also gone.
The boss calmly said : " I want these two idiots back in the office after lunch at 12.30 pm.. "
MORAL OF THE STORY :
ALWAYS LET THE BOSS SPEAK FIRST

LESSON 2
Standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand,
" Listen," said the CEO, " this is a very sensitive and important document,
and my secretary has left. Can you make this thing work?"
" Certainly," said the young executive.
He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.
" Excellent, excellent! " said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the shredder machine.
" I just need one copy. "
MORAL OF THE STORY:
NEVER, NEVER ASSUME THAT YOUR BOSS KNOWS EVERYTHING

LESSON 3
An American and a Japanese were sitting on the plane on the way to LA When
the American turned to the Japanese and asked
" What kind of -ese are you ? "
The Japanese, confused, replied : " Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean. "
The American repeated : " What kind of -ese are you ? "
Again, the Japanese was confused over the question.
The American, now irritated, then yelled : " What kind of -ese are you
.. Are you a Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese !, etc......??? "
The Japanese then replied : " Oh, I am a Japanese. "
A while later the Japanese turned to the American and asked what kind of 'key' was he.
The American, frustrated, yelled : " What do you mean what kind of -kee' am I ?! "
The Japanese said, " Are you a Yankee, donkee, or monkee ? "
MORAL OF THE STORY:
NEVER INSULT ANYONE

LESSON 4
There were these 4 guys --- a Russian, a German, an American and a French,
who together found this small genie bottle.
When they rubbed the bottle, a genie appeared..
Thankful that the 4 guys had released him out of the bottle, he said :
" Next to you all are 4 swimming pools, I will give each of you a wish.
When you run towards the pool and jump, you shout what you want the pool of water to become,
then your wish will come true. "
The French wanted to start.
He ran towards the pool, jumped and shouted : " Wine ! "
The pool immediately changed into a pool of wine.
The Frenchman was very happy, swimming and drinking from the pool.
Next is the Russian's turn.
He did the same and shouted : " Vodka ! " and immersed himself into a pool of vodka.
The German was next and he jumped and shouted : " Beer ! "
He was likewise very contented with his beer-filled pool.
The last is the American.
He was running towards the pool when suddenly he steps on a banana peel.
He slipped towards the pool and shouted, " Shit !!!!!!!........."
MORAL OF THE STORY:
ALWAYS THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING,
BECAUSE SOMETIMES ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN !