Plenty of vacancies in Penang

Written by The Star Saturday, 30 October 2010 00:00

THERE are ample jobs in Penang. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Malaysians looking for a job could come to Penang.

“There are jobs waiting for you,” he said before launching the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Penang Career Assistance and Training (CAT) Centre at Komtar yesterday.

Lim said this when commenting on a recent statement by Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan that illegal traders were mushrooming all over the state which, to the latter, was a sign that Penang’s economy was not doing well.

Lim said Dr Teng was refusing to see the facts.

“Penang is the second smallest state in the country but according to JobStreet.com statistics, we have the third highest number of job vacancies.

“I don’t know what planet he (Dr Teng) is from but Penang is lacking workers,” he said.

Dr Teng was reported on Thursday as saying that people in the state were resorting to hawking goods without a licence because it was the easiest way to earn an income.

He said that this could be an indication of the start of a recession based on past economic patterns.

On the launching of the CAT centre’s Twitter and Facebook accounts (twitter.com/penangcatcentre# and www.facebook.com/penangcatcentre), Lim said they would make it easier for those looking for a job to get in touch with the centre.

The centre would in turn match job seekers with suitable job vacancies and training programmes.

He said the centre had registered 3,320 job seekers since its launch on March 4 last year until Oct 19 this year.

Lim said 4,928 vacancies were recorded during the period.

“A total of 3,035 registrants have so far been linked to potential employers,” Lim said.