New job postings in Malaysia soared in Q4 2014, on the back of Putrajaya’s success in drawing in more multinational firms, according to recruitment consultancy Robert Walters. http://www.robertwalters.com.my/ Out of the six Asian markets that were surveyed in the agency’s job index for Q4 2014, Malaysia witnessed the biggest jump in the number of new jobs advertised, or an increase by 48 percent over the same period in 2013.
Titled “Asia at a glance,” the index ranked Japan second as it grew 42 percent due to improved business confidence, while China and Singapore grew at 19 percent and 23 percent respectively, owing to growth in online retail and increased regulatory requirements.
Overall, Asia witnessed an increase of 18 percent in job advertisement figures.
Sally Raj, managing director of Robert Walters Malaysia, attributed Malaysia’s status as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing markets to Putrajaya’s success in attracting more multinational firms.
“The government’s initiatives to strengthen infrastructure and increase business operational efficiency continues to attract increasing numbers of multinationals to the country. This explains the encouraging increases in job advertising volumes we have seen across 2014,” she said.
She said firms in Malaysia have expressed concerns over the goods and services tax that will roll out this April, making 2015 an “interesting year.”
Robert Walters noted that there was a shortage of technically skilled job applicants in Malaysia, with advertising of job openings for IT candidates climbing by 75 percent, while recruitment for those in accounting and finance as well as marketing rose by 63 percent and 55 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the 33 percent rise in job advertisements for logistics was driven by the country’s emerging status as a key regional hub for logistics and manufacturing, while the 31 percent hike in retail job postings is due to the opening up of new malls and new international brands.
With offices in 24 countries and regions, Robert Walters revealed that it compiled the Asia Job Index by monitoring advertising volumes for recruitment in leading job boards and national newspapers in the six regions.
By Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
Malaysian Job ads on the rise
PETALING JAYA: Job advertisements in Malaysia grew by 48% overall in the fourth quarter of last year, with experts saying this proves that Government initiatives and the stress on business operational efficiency is bearing fruit.
Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters in its Asia Job Index for Q4 2014 report said Malaysia was one of the fastest progressing markets, out of the six countries surveyed in Southeast Asia.
“The Government’s initiatives to strengthen infrastructure and increase business operational efficiency continue to attract increasing numbers of multinationals to the country.
“This explains the encouraging increase in job advertising volumes we have seen across last year,” said Robert Walters Malaysia managing director Sally Raj in the report.
She said companies were continuously trying to reach out to top talents in the market.
“In order to ensure further growth, hiring managers are producing very strong retention strategies to keep their best performers.
“This year will be an interesting year ahead as businesses have already expressed concerns around the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be implemented in April,” she added.
Japan came second at 42% due to improved business confidence while Singapore grew at 23% due to their Fair Consideration Framework.
The framework, which came in effect last August, obliges hiring managers to consider Singaporeans first for all vacancies. China grew 19% due to the growth in online retail.
Hong Kong trailed behind at 15% as companies seek to upskill their teams by hiring professionals with stronger skill sets and replacing underperformers.
South Korea meanwhile recorded a 3% growth due to positive policy changes by the government.
The report also revealed that IT candidates remained in demand, with the shortage of technically skilled job applicants being a key factor in the 75% rise in job advertising.
This is followed by those in accounting and finance (63%), and marketing (55%).
“Malaysia’s emerging status as a key manufacturing and logistics hub in Southeast Asia drove job advertising in logistics up 33% from 2013,” the firm noted.
Apart from that, the emergence of new shopping malls and the entrance of more international brands in Malaysia created a strong 31% increase in 2013 for retail job advertising especially within the luxury and mass label markets.
By Hemananthani Sivanandam The Star/Asia News Network
