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SINGAPORE: United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries, or UWEEI, is expecting another 2,000 to be laid off in the first quarter of this year alone. The union said that in comparison, about 2,300 workers in the unionised electronic sector lost their jobs over the whole of last year.

This time round, some companies are taking extra steps to help their affected workers. 57-year-old Madam Gayah Sarimon is one of 215 workers STMicroelectronics retrenched less than a month ago.

She and other colleagues are now undergoing training courses at the Employable and Employability Institute (e2i) to help them gain new skills and possibly land a new job. It is part of STMicroelectronics' effort with UWEEI to help affected workers even after retrenchment and to expose them to other job opportunities. Madam Gayah said: "I am confident I can gain new skills.

Nowadays in Singapore, there are so many (job)vacancies like (in) healthcare, customer service, hotel line. So, why not I try?" Halimah Yacob, executive secretary of UWEEI and NTUC deputy secretary general, said: "We have been working very closely with companies....ST (STMicroelectronics) is a good and positive example, because they gave us ample notice (before workers were retrenched).

We worked in advance with them, we prepared the workers. We have a plan as to what to do with them to help them find jobs." Apart from the training courses, affected workers also received retrenchment pay-outs of one month's salary for each year of service and can continue to enjoy medical benefits for one year.

STMicroelectronics will also pay their union membership fees for a year. As the economic crisis deepens, Madam Halimah hopes more companies will adopt the responsible attitude of working closely with their unions and e2i to explore ways to help affected workers, even after retrenching them.

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Source: CNA/ir