Online recruitment websites are generally considered one of the best options for job seekers looking to get hired. However, a recent report indicates that online hiring in Malaysia has seen a substantial drop in numbers over the last nine months.
The Monster Employment Index (MEI) has shown that online recruitment in Malaysia dropped by 24-percent year-on-year in September 2015. This was preceeded by a similar year-on-year drop of 21-percent for the month of August. It is more or less the same story for each month as the index has recorded a steady decline in numbers over the last 18 months.
Reduced online hiring was recorded across all nine sectors that the MEI tracks; all except for jobs in Marketing & Communication, which saw a tiny increase of 1-percent. Unsurprisingly, the Oil & Gas industry was one of the hardest hit with a 25-percent decrease in hiring year-on-year in September 2015. The low global oil prices are likely affecting these companies, preventing them from recruiting.
What is remarkable is that recruitment for software, hardware, and telecoms jobs has also taken a massive hit. The number of new hires for those jobs dropped by 33-percent.
Admittedly, the MEI is only part of the story for recruitment. It only tracks successful jobs from online sources, meaning that the decline could also be explained by a dropping popularity of using these services. The outlook is not entirely bleak for the country, as Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong), believes that recruitment will pick up once major hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Penang are completed in 2020.
