Retrenchment - not so clear cut after all

WE are living in uncertain times where jobs are no longer expected to last a lifetime. These days, it's the white collar workers - or the professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) - who sweat about jobs, compared to blue-collar workers. Not only are PMEs most at risk of losing their jobs, it also takes them longer to re-enter the market.

One incident fresh on our minds this year was the Surbana Jurong furore, where the company sacked 54 employees, citing poor performance in an e-mail circulated to staff.

As job security is at the top of workers' minds of late, we get specialists to answer some burning questions we have on retrenchment and layoffs, as well as what workers should know about it.