Malaysia’s online hiring off to a sluggish start in 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s online hiring activity continued its downward slide in the first quarter of this year, registering a decline of eight per cent in both January and February 2019.

This marks the country’s twelfth consecutive month of online hiring decline, according to the Monster. com’s Monster Employment Index (MEI).Monster.comchiefexecutive officer for Asia Pacific and Middle East Abhijeet Mukherjee said despite a 4.7 per cent growth in the Malaysian economy recorded in 2018, as well as anticipation of steady growth by Bank Negara Malaysia, hiring activities were not exciting.

“The start of the first quarter has weakened as employers remain in a cautious hiring mood,” he said in a statement.

However, the demand for skilled tech professionals and hiring across the Information and Technology ( IT) industry continues to rise as the sector records 11 straight months of positive annual growth.

Digital marketing and data science appeared as the top sought after skills in the first quarter.

Both large organisations and small and medium enterprises have a growing need for skilled tech workers and the widening skills gap is one of the biggest hurdles facing business owners.

IT, Telecom/Internet Service Provider and Business process outsourcing and Information Technology Enabled Services witnessed the steepest year-onyear growth among industry sectors, recording yet another double-digit growth of 25 per cent in February.

But, the index has also revealed that the logistic, courier, freight, transportation, shipping, marine industry saw the steepest annual decline among all sectors, down 21 per cent year-on-year in February, followed by the retail sector, which declined 20 per cent. — Bernama