Issues and Challenges of Employee Retrenchment during COVID-19 in Malaysia

Nor Azilah Husin, Aza Azlina Md. Kassim, Salina Rasli

Abstract

Employee retrenchment is a recurring topic in discussing human resource management issues. Due to various market issues and challenges, the administrative level has been forced to retrench its staff. This paper aims to explain cases and implications of employee retrenchment from the viewpoint of retrenched workers from four different industries: We conducted interview sessions via phone conversation to prompt additional questions and explain the issues and challenges associated with retrenched workers. Employees do not embrace the retrenchment process and its negative consequences, including demotivation, frustration, and unemployment. The issues are lack of the retrenchment process, employee compensation, and retrenchment criteria. The challenges found are the unemployment rate increase, struggle to survive the cost of living, social and psychological disorders, less organizational productivity, and worse health conditions. This finding would shed light on the predicament of the retrenched employees and give direction to the human resource management to act accordingly.

 

Keywords: employee, retrenchment, compensation, cost of living, psychological disorders.


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References


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