KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Local businesses have slashed new online recruitments by 33 per cent in 2015 versus the year before, according to a survey by an international Internet hiring firm who cited a weakening economy.
Monster Worldwide's Online Employment Index 2015 also found that no sector in the country was unscathed from the spreading economic slowdown, with even previously high-growth industries such as manufacturing, retail, and real estate all cutting back on Internet hires.
The manufacturing industry reduced hiring by 9 per cent year-on-year while retailers made do with 28 per cent fewer new workers; the advertising and marketing sector also reduced recruitment by 19 per cent and real estate/engineering had 28 per cent fewer vacancies.
“As Malaysia’s economic outlook remains gloomy, online hiring activity is likely to continue to be slow.
“Within organisations, only critical positions are likely to be filled as year-end retrenchments in the private sector were high, and the public sector also froze its hiring activity,”said Sanjay Modi, Monster Worldwide's managing director for India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong.
Hiring for software and hardware engineers fell the sharpest of the occupations measured, with an over 65 per cent drop from a year ago. Those in the tourism sector saw a 43 per cent fall in fresh openings while workers in finance and accounting had approximately 25 per cent less new online job opportunities
Although the oil and gas (O&G) industry is currently roiling from the record-low oil price, it was not the sector that has cut back hardest on hiring. While O&G reduced hiring by 30 per cent, this was surpassed by the hospitality sector's 33 per cent as well as the logistics industry's 35 per cent decline.
Oil-exporting Malaysia has been heavily affected by the fall in oil price, which is currently hovering around the US$30 per barrel mark and is expected to remain at that level for the immediate future.
The drop in oil-derived revenue has for the second year in a row forced Putrajaya to revise its annual Budget downwards, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak due to announce the latest “recalibration” tomorrow.
The country has also been reeling from the fall in the ringgit's value, which tumbled from 3.20 to the US dollar two years ago to over 4.30 now.
While the decline in the ringgit had been expected to boost tourism and exports, this has not been supported by recent data.
The retail sector is also still recovering from the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) last year, which continues to weigh on consumer spending, traditionally the main driver of the Malaysian economy.
According to HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd last week, consumer confidence has now fallen to below the levels seen during the 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis.
Monster Worldwide describes itself as a global online employment solution provider with a presence in North America, Europe, and Asia. It launched its Monster Employment Index in 2015, which it said is based on “a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities”.
