Kuala Lumpur, 27 September 2017: In a survey conducted by global recruitment specialist, Michael Page, 1 in 2 job seekers in Malaysia (55%) were found to be confident of the country’s job market outlook in the next six months.The Michael Page Job Applicant Confidence Index Q2 2017, which evaluated the responses of 468 mid to senior-level employees in Malaysia, across organisations and industries, revealed sound positive sentiments towards the Malaysian job market. Other figures demonstrate that in the next six months, 56% of respondents from Malaysia foresee a good to excellent national economy.May Wah Chan, Director at Michael Page Malaysia comments on the growing optimism, “There is a lot of positive outlook with strong prospects in the technology field. With support from the government, Malaysia is transforming to a digital economy. Consumers are increasingly savvy which has created opportunities for innovative start-ups and motivated traditional businesses to digitise their processes.”With the government initiatives, Malaysia Digital Hub and Tech Entrepreneur Programme, Malaysia has created sound infrastructure for foreign technology companies to establish themselves. This has led to market observations where we are seeing employment jumpstarted in the E-commerce, digital and digital marketing fields. In order to attract the dynamic pool of talent generally hired in these sectors, employers are looking at non-monetary benefits perceived to be important to them such as diversity & inclusion, flexible work arrangements and work-life balance.This is in line with the Michael Page Job Applicant Confidence Index Q2 2017 which also revealed that professionals are most optimistic about skills development (81%), expansion of their scope of function (74%) and compensation level (59%) over the next 12 months.“Malaysia can expect more exciting growth prospects with government schemes facilitating the entrance of foreign investors particularly in Fintech. The influx of digital transformation activity in Malaysia has led to other positive benefits. Existing businesses have acknowledged the importance of staying relevant in the midst of dynamic trends and in turn, created new digital departments and headcount,” observes May Wah Chan.Outside of technology, the logistics sector also drives much employment prospects, particularly at the last mile fulfilment phase. Transformed by Malaysia’s thriving e-commerce industry, this sector is moving from a B2B to a B2C mode, and impact has been felt most in the outside urban areas of Malaysia, where logistic companies have partnered with grocery retail firms to deliver to home residences.Shared services also remains one of Malaysia’s driving sectors, particularly within accounting and finance. The rise of globalisation and technology has allowed global corporations the ease of offshoring back-office operations to Malaysia, which will lead to more jobs being created.While increased opportunities indicate employment optimism, companies in Malaysia still face the recurring challenge of a limited talent pool. There is fierce competition for top tier professionals. Hiring managers who can secure qualified hires offer strong skills development, work-life balance and personal progression. The Michael Page survey further reports that 62% of job seekers are confident of securing a job in less than three months and 47% are driven by the desire to develop new skills.****END****Editor’s note: The Michael Page Job Applicant Confidence Index Q2 2017 is a measure of how optimistic job applicants are about the current job market. The responses are based on those that applied for a job published on our Michael Page website in Q2 2017.
