Bad Sign for Job Seekers as Fewer Job Opportunities Expected in 2019

According to Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), Malaysian employers are likely to retrench workers and abstain from hiring new employees in the year 2019. This will occur in nearly all sectors of the economy, as an effort to cut labour costs in Malaysia.

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said “The prospects of getting employed will be very challenging.”

Shamsuddin said the majority of employers would try their best to maintain their current workforce and retrench only in extreme cases. He added that one of the main factors leading to these scenarios is the development of automation.

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan. Credit: The Malaysian Insight

He gave the example of the services sector as on where jobs will be insufficient, attributing this to the expected decrease in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia.  

According to Shamsuddin, companies faced additional labour costs with the government’s decision to increase the minimum wage and to place foreign workers under the protection of the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs in the past few years, with over 21,000 lost their jobs in 2018. In 2017, 35,000 people were laid off.

In 2019, about 500,000 youths are expected to enter the Malaysian job market. The yearly figure of youths entering the job market was between 450,000 to 500,000 in the past few years.

Don't be "choosy"

The MEF executive director’s advice to fresh job seekers is “not to be choosy and to accept offers even if the pay is low”. He added further that fresh job seekers should try to get themselves employed and get enough working experience until the economy recovers.

According to a Khazanah report, some youths were willing to accept low salaries. The study also said many youths were overqualified for unskilled or low skilled jobs.

Of the 21,000 people who lost their jobs in 2018, 5902 were from Selangor, 4,767 from Kuala Lumpur, 2,536 from Johor and 1,328 from Penang. 25% of them were diploma and degree holders who held high paying jobs as managers, technicians and professionals.

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