JOB vacancies advertised online in Malaysia soared to 159,148 in the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022), compared with 90,218 in the same quarter last year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of vacancies advertised online in Q1 2022 was the highest in February, at 67,172.

“For January and March, 48,924 and 43,052 vacancies were advertised respectively,” he said in a statement in conjunction with the release of the Job Vacancies Landscape in Malaysia, First Quarter of 2022, today. 

The quarterly analysis features statistics compiled based on job vacancies advertised online by several popular private recruitment portals.

The analysis also provides information on job vacancies offered by employers online from various aspects such as job type, job profile, location, industry, skills and the field of studies.

Uzir said in the quarter under review, most employers required workers in the professional category (44.9%), followed by technicians and associate professionals (17.7%) and managers (11.3%).

By ranking, the five most popular jobs offered were advertising and marketing professionals, administrative associate professionals, managing director and chief executive officer, accountants, auditors and software developers.

“From an economic perspective, the wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicle and motorcycles sector were the main sectors that contributed to the job vacancies offered,” he said.

“The other four sectors with the highest job supply are manufacturing; professional, scientific and technical activities; financial and insurance/takaful activities; and accommodation and food service activities.”

He said three jobs in the technical and vocational education and training category that recorded the highest number of vacancies were advertising and marketing professionals, administrative associate professionals and software developers.

Advertising and marketing professionals, managing directors, chief executive officers, accountants and auditors were the highest critical occupation list category jobs advertised online during the period under review.

“In addition, popular jobs offered in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics category were technician, graphic designer and software engineer,” he said.

Uzir said the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of job vacancies, at 42.7%, followed by Selangor (16.9%), Johor (7.3%), Penang (3.9%) and Malacca (1.7%).

“The analysis on the number of vacancies advertised online in Q1 2022 shows that the economy is on recovery, in tandem with the transition from the Covid-19 pandemic to endemic phase,” he said.

“With this transition, all economic sectors and borders of the country have been opened in stages and expected to reduce the impact of the pandemic, revive the country’s economy and create more jobs.” – Bernama, May 31, 2022.