By Derek Toh, Founder & CEO of Hiredly.

While there is a risk of a global recession, particularly from the United States and Europe, we expect the recruitment market in Malaysia to grow in 2023. This is largely due to the fact that countries in Asia will be positively influenced by China’s recent efforts to open up its economy. 

As China’s economy improves, it is expected to increase its demand for goods and services from other countries in the region, including Malaysia. This will lead to increased trade and investment, which will in turn drive business growth and create new job opportunities.

Overall, while the potential for a recession in the United States and Europe is a concern, the recruitment market in Malaysia is expected to grow in 2023 due to our strong economic fundamentals, successful response to the pandemic, and positive impact of China’s economic openness.

On top of this, we expect to see stronger competition for quality talent as more employers look to digitise their businesses to drive efficiency and become more competitive.

Due to uncertain economic headwinds, many employers will likely not use salaries as the primary means to compete for talent. Instead, they will use culture-related strategies to attract the best people. This will include adopting hybrid and flexible working cultures, investing in training and development of junior talent, and drive social goals related to diversity and inclusion.

Moreover, following the aftermath of the major job-cut announcements in the US, many quality talent may adopt a more cautious approach to changing jobs, and this will require employers to work harder to compete for them.

The Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) believes that the Malaysian job market will continue benefiting from the firm domestic demand for employment, the reopening of international borders for tourism, the improving state of the domestic economy and the revival of construction projects, among others.

Based on data from recruitment activities on Hiredly, we saw a slow down in Q4, especially after our General Elections were announced, but this is consistently been growing again since December 2022, and is expected to continue to grow throughout Q1 2023. Sales, Marketing and Technology talent are most sought after within the Gen Y and Z talent pool.

Plus, the Budget 2023 announcement that will take place this coming February might also reveal several additional efforts by the government to further boost the country’s employment rate.

Hiredly will continue to analyse micro and macro level information to predict the job market in Malaysia. This will involve recruitment activity data from both our platform and other digital sources and updates from global news, including monitoring economic indicators such as unemployment rates, as well as analysing political and social trends that impact the job market. We hope to be able to use these valuable insights to help jobseekers to make informed decisions about their career paths and for employers to plan their hiring strategies accordingly.

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