KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Malaysian workers retrenched from factories in Singapore can apply for jobs in Johor, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said.

He said the ministry had set up an operations room in Johor Baru to register those retrenched and help match them with jobs available in Johor. There were at least 12,000 job vacancies in Johor Baru presently.

During a meeting with the labour attache from Singapore attended by employer and employee representatives in Johor last week, he said there was no indication that a large number of Malaysians retrenched in Singa-pore would return here.

'So, it is only an anticipation. They think it might happen,' he told reporters after attending the Young Indian Entrepreneurs Award 2008 here last night.

On the fate of 1,500 workers laid off by American hard-disk manufacturer Western Digital which had ceased operations in Sarawak, he said the company had already issued notices to workers about the impending retrenchment.

He said ministry officials had been in discussion with the factory and the company had offered the workers to be transferred to its factories in peninsular Malaysia.