“According to the World Bank, Malaysia’s economy is growing at an above average rate, and is likely to stay strong in spite of regional economic setbacks.
“The sectors that will likely continue to see the most growth are the information technology, manufacturing and retail industries,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director for Monster.com – Asia Pacific and Middle East, in a statement.
Quoting the latest Monster Employment Index, he said the speed at which Malaysia’s online hiring was declining had slowed down in August, indicating a potential turnaround for the local employment landscape.
The MEI, conducted by Monster.com, the global online employment site, indicated that Malaysia reported a -3 per cent, year-over-year, decline in hiring when comparing August 2016 to August 2015.
“The MEI records overall growth or decline in Malaysia’s online hiring, as well as the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity locally,” he said.
In August, the information technology, telecom/Internet service provider and business process outsourcing/information technology enabled services sector saw the steepest growth at 10 per cent, year-over-year.
This is a whopping 39 per cent improvement from the -29 per cent slump recorded between July 2015 and 2016, and the sector’s first positive annual growth since March 2015.
Also witnessing improvement is the oil and gas sector at 3 per cent, year-over-year, jumping 19 per cent from the -16 per cent decline reported in July 2016.
This is the sector’s first positive annual growth in the last 18 months, Modi added.
The banking, financial services and insurance sector remained at the other end of the scale, with a -13 per cent decline in online hiring.
When looking at specific jobs in Malaysia, sales and business development talent were most in demand, with a 16 per cent, year-over-year growth in online hiring.
The group has been seeing progressive growth over recent months, and recorded 13 per cent growth in online hiring between July and August.
Customer service professionals were the least in demand, with a -34 per cent annual decline in August.