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In view of the crisis, many alternatives to alleviate their problems.....
In a recent survey done by the Geneva-based Corporate Resources Group (CRG), it was
reported that for the first time in years, salaries in U.S dollar in terms of senior,
middle, junior managers in the region were very much lower in February than a year
ago. The salary slide ranges from around 9% in Taiwan to 71% in Indonesia. Indications
are the worst has yet to come.
Corporations in Malaysia have already implemented pay freeze while salary cutbacks
are reported in various sectors. Many saw their salaries cut and unlucky ones were
retrenched.
According to recent Labour Department statistics, some 19,235 employees were laid
off between January 1 and April 11 this year. About 24% of which are professionals
working in the administration, management, technical and professional levels.
Rather than sit at home waiting for work to come by, most people are looking for
something temporary to make up for the loss of income. Part-time jobs - doing something
else which can be totally unrelated to your profession to earn an honest living -
marketing healthcare products, unit trust funds, giving tuition, etc. Now is the
time to make full use of whatever extra skills or experience you have. You may even
want to set up your own business and work at home as an alternative to earning a
fixed income.
Betty, an overseas graduate started her career as a management trainee for an advertising
agency. Like others, she was well-paid as a result of booming economy. To further
upgrade herself, she took evening course in language and linguistic. She studied
Japanese and Mandarin intensively.
Recently, she was retrenched. Getting a new job was tough. Solution? Rather than
waste further time scouting for another job, she opted for something new. She started
her own agency translating Japanese reports to English. She would operate from her
apartment. With her good networking base, she had enough work to keep her going full
time.
Working seriously for your own business at home is not easy - it requires both skill
and flexibility. You may not be as lucky as Betty but it should not be a deterrent
for people who want to start their own business as opportunities are still a plenty
despite the economic downturn.
A growing number of people work at home. For instance, you may want to set up a home-based
tuition center for elementary students or you may provide typing services for companies.
Under current conditions, hardwork and dedication is the basic recipe for succeeding
in any business. Sophisticated desk-top computers, modem lines, and fax machines
has changed the nature of work.
Like anything that sounds too good to be true, working at home could be hazardous
for some and may undermine ones success or goal. Be aware of the challenges you will
face if you plan to work out of your home. You may have to encounter stumbling blocks
that you never encountered at the office.
How do you balance your family needs with those of your business? How can you effectively
run your company without depriving your loved ones of attention? Certainly, it is
tough to separate your work life from your personal life.
Things will be difficult if you have children at home. Apart from that, in some cases,
working at home without the full support from your spouse may further complicate
the situation. In short, it is hard to keep all the balls in the air.
Discipline is necessary for home entrepreneurs. Normally, when working at home, it
is easy to slip from discipline to workaholism. Many home entrepreneurs often end
up working more hours than office workers because of various disturbances. Being
over-worked in-turn produces stress-related impact and eventually hurting the performance
of the work.
In addition, the isolation could plague those who were used to a normal office life
- the casual good-mornings, lunch chats, meetings, etc. More importantly, they miss
the typical professional interaction of an office.
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