The popular Matta Fair 2008 is back on September, starting today and ends on the weekend on 7 September (Sunday).

The fair takes place in PWCT (Putra World Trade Center).

While many of the citizens are resorting to a more economic approach in spending their budget, Asia destinations such as China, South Korea and Taiwan are expected to remain popular among Malaysians.

Thailand would be the sole country destined to suffer from tourism this time around, mainly due to the political unrest in the country.

More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the fair.

Matta, which stands for Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel agents, organizes the fair a few times per year, with tens of thousands visitors swarming the venue every time the travel fair is held.

Where salary is concerned, everyone wants and wishes to get the highest pay. But not everyone has the gut to negotiate until they got the salary they want.

Following are some of the tips you can use while (or before) negotiating your salary with prospective employers. They don’t guarantee you anything, but the least they do is getting yourself prepared.

1. Evaluate how much you are worth

Conduct an assessment on yourself – compare your skills, the demand of the skills in the job market, and find out the salaries of those in your job niche.

Take account both internal and external factors in evaluating your salary. Is your company a leader in the market (which can mean they’re already paying top salaries)? Are you currently lowly paid even though you’re being loyal with your company and stay for years (which can mean your chance of landing a job with top salary is higher)?

2. Compare salary and compensation plan

Compare the current salary and the new salary offered. Then go to the next level – study the overall compensation plan. The salary offered might be lower than you are expecting but there might be some elements in the benefits or perks that counter it. List the haves and the have-nots – e.g. share option, medical benefits, traveling entitlement, allowances, insurance scheme and so on. If they’re not satisfactory, go back to the negotiation table.

3. When asked about salary, try soliciting a range

Certain people react differently when asked about current salary at point-blank. If you’re put in a position to reveal how much you’re earning, get even by soliciting a range this new company can offer. That’s only fair, isn’t it? This is a pre-emptive strike that can determine if you should pursue your interest with the new company.

4. Use justification rather than confrontation

Rather than shamelessly hammering your fist and stating your demand, justify why you’re worth that salary. Use persuasion techniques effectively.

“Part of the job requires me to (do certain stuff). As my own experience tells me, there are only a handful of specialists in the market out there who have this expertise and I’m sure you’d agree. I’ve done my own analysis, and their salary is either at par or above than the salary figure I’m asking.”

5. Don’t give ultimatum too soon

Some people throw the “pay me, or leave me” ultimatum too soon thinking that the employer is desperate enough to get you on-board. Often times, this will result in a pissed off employer who would soon withdraw from the offer altogether. Rather, allow 2 or 3 rounds of salary negotiation, before you make up your mind.

2 of Malaysia’s current employment laws, the Employment Act 1955 and the Worker’s Compensation Act are to be amended as a step to reduce the country’s dependency to foreign workers.

The plan was announced by the Human Resource Minister, Datuk Dr. S Subramaniam to the press yesterday, who told the amendments will be tabled in Parliament upon cabinet’s approval.

Once coming into effect, employers who wish to hire foreign workers will be required to submit a justification of the need and detail out the number of job vacancies to the ministry one month prior to processing the worker’s application.

In other words, foreigners who arrive in the country for work purpose must already have a job offer in hand. The situation is somewhat loose at the moment, where companies, especially those in the outsourcing business, discovered to have brought foreigners without ready jobs. They were only placed in factories later after negotiation with other companies needing foreign workers. The situation in the past, has also given rise to issue of foreigners stranded without jobs and accommodation.

Additionally, housemaids and domestic workers from overseas, who were exempted from insurance coverage will now be included in the protection scheme.

At the moment, there are more than 2 million foreign workers in the country employed in various distinguished industries and job specializations including manufacturing, plantation, services and domestic work. The government plans to reduce the number by 18%, or 1.8 million by the year 2010.

Lehman Brothers, a well-known brokerage services firm, is poised to cut 1,200 jobs in the United States in the wake of the weakening US and global economy.

Most redundancies will be felt by employees in the mortgage business, investment banking and trading division.

The move is part of the cost cutting measures by the company, which also includes selling off some of their assets. The group’s asset management division, Neuberger Berman, which is also one of the primary subsidiaries, is said to be put on sale soon.

Lehman Brothers was founded more than 150 years ago by 3 brothers – Henry, Emanuel and Mayer, who migrated from German to United States, selling dry goods as their very first product. The business, products and services diversified and after more than a century, the company today has established itself as a leader in financial services with specialties in investment banking, research and trading, private banking and private equity.

Lehman’s global operation is based in New York, United States with major regional presence in London and Tokyo, as well as offices in numerous countries around the world. In mid 2008, Lehman was listed as the Top 5 Employers for New Graduates, alongside PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Intel, Microsoft and L’Oreal.

With the new job cut, Lehman Brothers will increase the total job loss figure to 6,400 for the past 12 months.