A survey by recruitment firm Employment Hero said that 85% of staff responsible for hiring in small or medium-sized enterprises (SME) struggled to compete with multinational corporations (MNC) when it comes to hiring new talent.
Its report titled “State of Recruitment” also highlighted the increase in the cost of hiring, with 52% of the respondents saying this was caused by jobseekers looking for higher wages due to the rising living costs.
Other reasons listed behind the increase in the cost of hiring were labour shortage (37%), followed by the costs of job posting and commission from recruitment agencies (both at 32%).
The report said this struggle is alarming since SMEs have a huge impact on the economy, and suggested that SMEs should play to their advantage by offering tailored employee packages with flexibility in working arrangements and hands-on working culture.
Employment Hero describes itself as a human resource, payroll and recruitment solution designed for Malaysian businesses.
The report the firm released was aimed at highlighting the disparity between MNCs and SMEs in the hiring process and the costs incurred when hiring.
The survey involved 515 business leaders in Singapore and Malaysia between June 9 and 12 this year, through the Glow consumer research platform.
In July this year, Bernama reported that SMEs contributed to 38.4% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Earlier, SME Corporation Malaysia urged micro and SMEs (MSMEs) to embrace digitalisation in closing the gap to upgrade their business processes and improve their operations.
Its chief executive Rizal Nainy said according to recent findings conducted by the corporation, more than 80% of MSMEs were computerised, which they owned gadgets to complement their business operations.
