<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>12618.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,200646,00.html?
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000 colSpan=2><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#000000><TBODY><TR><TD>WHEN JOB CUTS LOOM, SOMETIMES...</TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w>It's less stressful to be fired than to stay hired </TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>May 02, 2009</TD><TD width=30>
</TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD width=30>
</TD><TD width=40> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD height=0 colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rightline vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>FIRST the financial crisis. Now, the swine flu.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]CAUSE FOR JOY: Many of the 220 workers retrenched from the Delphi Automotive Systems plant in March openly celebrated getting their 'golden handshakes'. --TNP PICTURE: NG XI JIE[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In such worrisome times, who has it worse? Those with jobs or those who have been retrenched?
If you think that's a no-brainer, you'd be surprised.
Earlier this week, Labour chief Lim Swee Say, in his May Day message, told workers to expect more job cuts. The job losses earlier this year, he said, will not be the only ones.
But those who have lost their jobs may not necessarily be facing more stress compared to those who are still employed.
In a quick poll of 20 people, 17 told The New Paper that they felt the survivors were likely to be more stressed than those who were retrenched. This is because they continue to labour under the threat of being laid off.
Their sentiments reflect a recent UK study claiming that those who keep their jobs - but who fear being told to go - wind up more stressed than those laid off.
Singaporean workers, it seems, aren't so different from their British counterparts.
This study was presented by Dr Brendan Burchell from the University of Cambridge's sociology department on 6Mar.
It found that employed people who fear losing their jobs become as stressed as those who were unemployed.
But while the unemployed start to recover from their anxiety after six months, said Dr Burchell, the mental health of those who keep their job 'worsens for at least one or two years' after hearing about impending job cuts.
Dr Burchell's study was based on his observations of about 300 British workers, various European workforce studies and the British Household Survey of about 5,000 people, which tracked their mental health since 1991.
S'poreans say...
One might think that without Europe's generous unemployment benefits, Singaporeans would be more glum about being out of work.
But, as Madam Tengku Fadhlina, 25, a kindergarten teacher reasoned: 'The employed have it worse because they don't know if they'll be the next to go.'
Madam Norainee Shafiei, 48, a former security guard, felt the same way. 'At my old workplace,' she said, 'those who didn't get fired became more withdrawn. You could tell that they were stressed.'
Senior therapist at Daybreak Family Service Centre Alvin Goh said that stress can be caused by uncertainty.
People also tend to overestimate how strongly they will react to emotional events.
Said Dr Adrian Wang from Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, Gleneagles Medical Centre: 'People tend to overestimate the negative impact of retrenchment and underestimate their ability to cope with it.'
For those who still have jobs, there's a mountain of work to contend with.
=> In other words, there're no laws to protect the people against exploitation by employers despite the govt being BEST PAID themselves lah!
Said Mr Brent Ruge, head of Employee Surveys for Towers Perrin Singapore, a human resources consultancy: 'All that extra work does make lay-off survivors more stressed.'
But not everyone we spoke to was convinced.
Member of parliament Halimah Yacob, deputy secretary-general of the NTUC, cautioned against generalising the issue.
=> Chicken talking again?
'Whether people get stressed depends on many things, including how companies explain the process to their employees. Good communication is key,' she said.
'If companies show workers that the retrenchment exercises are fair, then workers will trust in the system and won't be so stressed.
'Some firms have also assured their workers that after a certain number of lay-offs, they will stop slashing jobs. This would of course improve morale among the workers.'
Counselling helps
She added: 'About 20 per cent of retrenching firms also have counsellors on hand to help both lay-off survivors and those laid off. Such systems lower stress. More companies should do the same.'
GMP Group corporate services senior manager Josh Goh also expressed reservations about the findings.
'I've seen people who don't dare to take leave or medical leave for fear of being fired,' he said.
'But given how it's so hard to find a job, those who get retrenched also face a lot of pressure from mounting bills.'
Indeed, one of those grappling with financial problems now is Mr Rahmat Talib, 43, who was laid off from his warehouse assistant job in February.
He said: 'I'm more stressed now because no one wants to hire me, and I've a wife and two kids to support.
'I just hope I can find a job soon.'
- By Han Yongming, newsroom intern
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
& that's why I told u I worry if there's no retrenchment! *chey*
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000 colSpan=2><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#000000><TBODY><TR><TD>WHEN JOB CUTS LOOM, SOMETIMES...</TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w>It's less stressful to be fired than to stay hired </TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>May 02, 2009</TD><TD width=30>
</TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD width=30>
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
If you think that's a no-brainer, you'd be surprised.
Earlier this week, Labour chief Lim Swee Say, in his May Day message, told workers to expect more job cuts. The job losses earlier this year, he said, will not be the only ones.
But those who have lost their jobs may not necessarily be facing more stress compared to those who are still employed.
In a quick poll of 20 people, 17 told The New Paper that they felt the survivors were likely to be more stressed than those who were retrenched. This is because they continue to labour under the threat of being laid off.
Their sentiments reflect a recent UK study claiming that those who keep their jobs - but who fear being told to go - wind up more stressed than those laid off.
Singaporean workers, it seems, aren't so different from their British counterparts.
This study was presented by Dr Brendan Burchell from the University of Cambridge's sociology department on 6Mar.
It found that employed people who fear losing their jobs become as stressed as those who were unemployed.
But while the unemployed start to recover from their anxiety after six months, said Dr Burchell, the mental health of those who keep their job 'worsens for at least one or two years' after hearing about impending job cuts.
Dr Burchell's study was based on his observations of about 300 British workers, various European workforce studies and the British Household Survey of about 5,000 people, which tracked their mental health since 1991.
S'poreans say...
One might think that without Europe's generous unemployment benefits, Singaporeans would be more glum about being out of work.
But, as Madam Tengku Fadhlina, 25, a kindergarten teacher reasoned: 'The employed have it worse because they don't know if they'll be the next to go.'
Madam Norainee Shafiei, 48, a former security guard, felt the same way. 'At my old workplace,' she said, 'those who didn't get fired became more withdrawn. You could tell that they were stressed.'
Senior therapist at Daybreak Family Service Centre Alvin Goh said that stress can be caused by uncertainty.
People also tend to overestimate how strongly they will react to emotional events.
Said Dr Adrian Wang from Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, Gleneagles Medical Centre: 'People tend to overestimate the negative impact of retrenchment and underestimate their ability to cope with it.'
For those who still have jobs, there's a mountain of work to contend with.
=> In other words, there're no laws to protect the people against exploitation by employers despite the govt being BEST PAID themselves lah!
Said Mr Brent Ruge, head of Employee Surveys for Towers Perrin Singapore, a human resources consultancy: 'All that extra work does make lay-off survivors more stressed.'
But not everyone we spoke to was convinced.
Member of parliament Halimah Yacob, deputy secretary-general of the NTUC, cautioned against generalising the issue.
=> Chicken talking again?
'Whether people get stressed depends on many things, including how companies explain the process to their employees. Good communication is key,' she said.
'If companies show workers that the retrenchment exercises are fair, then workers will trust in the system and won't be so stressed.
'Some firms have also assured their workers that after a certain number of lay-offs, they will stop slashing jobs. This would of course improve morale among the workers.'
Counselling helps
She added: 'About 20 per cent of retrenching firms also have counsellors on hand to help both lay-off survivors and those laid off. Such systems lower stress. More companies should do the same.'
GMP Group corporate services senior manager Josh Goh also expressed reservations about the findings.
'I've seen people who don't dare to take leave or medical leave for fear of being fired,' he said.
'But given how it's so hard to find a job, those who get retrenched also face a lot of pressure from mounting bills.'
Indeed, one of those grappling with financial problems now is Mr Rahmat Talib, 43, who was laid off from his warehouse assistant job in February.
He said: 'I'm more stressed now because no one wants to hire me, and I've a wife and two kids to support.
'I just hope I can find a job soon.'
- By Han Yongming, newsroom intern
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
& that's why I told u I worry if there's no retrenchment! *chey*
