M'SIAN FIRMS STILL HIRING DESPITE CONFIDENCE DIP, SAYS REGUS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysian businesses are still looking to
employ more workers even though their views on economic growth are not as
positive as they were a year ago, according to the Regus Business Confidence
Index.

In a statement on Wednesday, Regus said the intention to hire more manpower
can be viewed as a strategy for companies to seek competitive advantage now and
growth over the next few months.

It said in Malaysia, 21 per cent of companies have pushed back their
expectations of recovery to the second half of 2012.

However, it said, 70 per cent of Malaysian companies plan to increase
the number of staff over the next two years despite a decline by 37 points to
117 from April this year in the Regus Business Confidence Index.

It added that 57 per cent of Malaysian companies plan to hire more
freelance workers while 43 per cent plan to employ more remote workers in
2011/2012, signalling a move towards more flexible working practices.

Regus is the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces.
--BERNAMA