More employers surveyed in Malaysia are hiring: 31% growth in job demand in June 2022

An upsurge of 15% was registered for hiring activity over the last six months, while month-on-month growth improved at 5%.

Malaysia's job market recorded a 31% growth in job demand in June 2022, indicating "a spree in hiring activity on an annual basis", as the Monster Employment Index (MEI) suggests. Additionally, certain segments hit hardest by COVID-19 showed promising signs of resurgence.

The MEI provides a broad monthly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster India. Overall, it presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide, factoring in review of employer job opportunities from a large, representative selection of online career outlets.

An upsurge of 15% was registered for hiring activity over the last six months, while month-on-month growth improved at 5%, projecting a continuous demand in the job market, according to the Index.

Taking an industry-specific look - the local retail industry moved towards recovery with a 321% year-on-year growth in job activity in June 2022, despite two years of restriction on public activities, rising prices, and the current labour crisis.

Moreover, retail sales in the country are projected to grow at the rate of 25.7% in the current quarter, per insights by Malaysian retail associations. 

Commenting on the trends, Sekhar Garisa, CEO, Monster.com - APAC & Gulf said: "Companies today are ramping up their demand for a digital-first future-ready workforce amidst the ongoing talent crunch we see globally."

Currently, several industries have begun to almost reflect pre-pandemic business functioning with recovery, especially across deeply impacted segments such as tourism, hospitality, and retail.

"With flexible work arrangements gaining popularity in the job market, we are optimistic to see continued growth and resilience in the coming months," Garisa added. 

In further detail, the hospitality sector (up 65%) also saw a huge inflow of demand for professionals in tourism and travel-related industries, with the user penetration rate nearing the pre-pandemic levels. With improved business sentiments and airline travel ramping up, tourism in the country has picked up, accompanied by the consequent rise in demand for skilled talent. According to the MEI, logistics, courier/ freight/ transportation, shipping/marine (up 51%) also noted a huge jump in hiring activity being next in the rung, followed by rapid digitisation in BFSI (up 32%).

Other noteworthy sectors that showed promising growth in June include:

• production/manufacturing, automotive, and ancillary (up 4%)
• IT, Telecom/ISP, BPO/IT and enabled services (up 5%)
• advertising, market research, public relations, and media & entertainment (up 16%)
• engineering, construction, and real estate (up 19%)

Across roles, the Malaysian job market exhibited "maximum demand" for professionals in hospitality & travel, with a growth of 162%, driven by travel resumption from neighbouring countries coupled with strong domestic tourism. Interestingly, all nine functions monitored by the index saw positive growth over the course of June 2022 projecting a great demand influx for the market.

Given the growth of retail, roles in customer service (up 79%) increased, followed by software, hardware, telecom (up 58%). Finance & accounts and sales & business development also observed a rise of 52% and 41% particularly.

Image / Shutterstock

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