foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME), one of the leading talent management platforms, recently published the foundit Insights Tracker (fit) for October 2023, formerly published as Monster Employment Index (MEI).
According to the Malaysian Fit report, job roles in the hospitality and travel sector have impressively grown by 169% over the past year.
The tracker also reveals a promising year-on-year (YoY) growth of 16% e-recruitment, as the index climbed from 69 in Oct 2022 to 80 in Oct 2023.
Additionally, a month-on-month (MoM) analysis also indicated an increase reflecting a positive job market.
The rising index values reveal a thriving labour market that will benefit employers and job seekers alike.
Commenting on Malaysia’s job trends for May 2023, Sekhar Garisa, CEO, foundit, said, “Our findings indicate a strong momentum and a promising future for Malaysia’s labour market. However, in this competitive landscape, companies are emphasising individuals with specialised skills.”
“Hence, job seekers must always be aware of the changing demands of the industry and equip themselves with the required skills. Upskilling and continuous learning will be the key to unlocking new opportunities and thriving in this dynamic landscape,” he added.
Engineering, construction, and real estate follow an upward trend in hiring activity, while the oil and gas, BFSI and IT/telecom & BPO Industries witness a drop in recruitment.
The hospitality and retail industries continue to lead the way among the industries, showing steady growth
The hospitality industry saw a remarkable YoY growth of 111%, driven by Malaysia’s booming tourism industry, which draws an increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists.
Similarly, the retail industry at 108% marked noteworthy progress in e-recruitment owing to the huge retail sales.
Being next in the rung, engineering, construction, and real estate industries also witnessed a YoY increase in October 2023 with a 42% rise in the hiring activity due to infrastructure developments, govt. policies, and rapid urbanisation plans of Malaysia.
The oil and gas industry, along with BFSI, IT, telecom/ISP, and BPO/ITES, recorded a substantial deceleration in hiring activity, with a YoY decrease of 11%, 9% and 6%, respectively.
This trend can be attributed to economic slowdowns or uncertainties that lead to reduced investments and lower demand for services.
However, barring these industries, the overall hiring sentiment in Malaysia has been positive with logistics, courier/ freight/ transportation, shipping/ marine (+27%), advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment (+17%) and production/manufacturing, Automotive and ancillary (+12%) industries registered substantial annual growth in October ’23. Overall, there has been an optimistic hiring in Oct ’23.
Hospitality, retail & real estate lead the way in hiring trends
In terms of functional roles, hospitality and travel jobs continued to witness significant demand in Oct 2023, with a staggering YoY growth of 169% driven by international tourism.
This economic recovery created an online demand for other job roles, such as sales & business development (44%) and marketing & communications (12%).
A few of the other job roles that have showcased a robust YoY growth rate include engineering/ production, real estate (+10%), HR & admin (+7%), purchase/ logistics/ supply chain (+6%) and software, hardware & telecom (+5%)
The roles in customer service (-24%) were the sole function to exhibit a negative growth trend despite having a 19% increase over the last month.
Several reasons can be attributed to this, including the advancements in technology that have led to the implementation of automated customer service systems such as chatbots and self-service portals.
There have also been instances during challenging economic times where businesses need to prioritise cost-cutting measures, resulting in a decrease in hiring across various job roles, including customer service.
The foundit Insights Tracker is a comprehensive monthly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by foundit.
Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, the foundit Insights Tracker (FIT) presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide.
The reporting period considered for the foundit Insights Tracker (fit) data is Oct 2022 to Oct 2023.
