The fact remains that our general workers are paid a really low wage and we do need to sit down and take a good look at our compensation and benefits package. I know that because the starting point of these wages are set so low, and we can’t get the kind of employees we need.

Come on, think about it. Something in the range of RM1000 and below is little hard to sustain. We’re living in the ‘burbs, the cost of living is high and increasing with each passing year. You know as well as I that it’s not feasible to expect people to sustain this. The employees are not above seeing all of this. They know what they have to do to get by, whether it’s to work overtime or find other ways to make a little bit more. But I don’t know what to do. It’s a change mindset I need to fight against and I don’t know what ammo I need to use to fend this off.

We battle a high rate of absenteeism, we’ve got huge medical costs we have to pick up on. You do the math and you will see the direct correlation between the amount of sick leave taken, the medical costs we need to bear and the impact this has on the bottom line. Most of our people are getting older and we don’t have an effective succession plan in place. We carry on, we just do.

I know these people won’t change, so what mountains can I move here? It’s really a battle I cant win.