http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013...r-openings.aspx


PETALING JAYA: Jobseekers, especially fresh graduates, are feeling the heat from the softening job market.


The extended retirement age, higher operational costs coupled with lower revenue and an uncertain world economy are reasons behind the drop, according to Malaysian Employers Federation’s (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan.

He said the number of job vacancies registered by employers in June 2013 dropped by 35.7% to 107,796 compared with 167,968 vacancies at the same time last year, citing statistics from Jobs Malaysia, an online job matching service under the Human Resource Ministry.

Shamsuddin said jobseekers were competing for fewer openings as about 915,000 private sector employees had been retained in the workforce for the next five years with the extension of the retirement age from 55 to 60 after the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012 came into force on July 1.

“Many employers also prefer to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude because of the uncertain world economy. They are also bracing themselves for the full impact of the minimum wage policy in January,” he said.

Shamsuddin said companies, which faced higher operating costs and earning lower revenues, had stopped hiring as one of their cost-cutting measures.

“Some employers are already offering the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) and other packages for employees to leave, so the likelihood of them taking in fresh graduates is very slim,” he said, adding that the current unemployment rate was only about 3%.

Some 180,000 fresh graduates enter the labour market yearly, after most public university convocations are held in September and October.

Manpower Malaysia country manager Sam Haggag said multi-national companies (MNCs) were restructuring and rationalising their permanent headcounts in anticipation of what was expected to come.

“Companies are managing costs. Hiring is on hold for most jobs except in senior technical positions and niche areas like biosciences and R&D. Some companies are letting their employees go and those that are hiring, are doing so on contract basis,” he said.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon said electrical and electronics (E&E) companies might have undertaken cost cutting measures to sustain operations.

“To cope with slower demand from major external markets, companies have stopped hiring new staff or put filling up vacancies on hold. The softening of the job market could be due to the RM4.99bil drop in export demand from January to June this year.

“Also, the higher retirement age raised in July means a reduction in new intake,” he added.

On the lower ranking positions, he said many companies could be stabilising their workforce by requiring “more multi-skilling and multi-tasking” workers because of the challenging business environment. The FMM represents 2,678 members.

MyStarJob Network Sdn Bhd head Serm Teck Choon said there was a “definite drop” in vacancies and that the job market had not picked up since January.

“Pre-GE13, the job market was slow because companies adopted a wait-and-see attitude but post election, vacancies are still on the decline.

“The feedback from my online job portal, print media and headhunter networks is that there are fewer jobs out there,” he said.

So difficult to get job meh???

Some fresh graduate ask come for interview also never bother or never turn out.

serow lah ts
/kolos

edit: theres already a thread in kopitiam

This post has been edited by crazydiner: Oct 14 2013, 08:50 PM

Kopitiam thread is means for non-serious comments.....whereas this thread is for non-crappy comment.

This star is talking crap la.
Now is October ya know? It is off peak period. No surprise there is drop in job vacancies.

I so far got two job offers. Still ok what.

Stupid star got no statistical evidence, simply go and say it is due to the increase in retirement age. So unprofessional this star journalists. If you see UK newspaper all their titles are backed by statistics.

Can share what type of job and the level of the position??

Higher exec to managerial.

Thanks...In between, Dow Jones and Bursa Index are still doing fine, no clear indication economy are slowing down...

i am still unemployed 3 months after graduation,but i dont blame it on the soft job market.i blame it my ''not so good persuasion skills '' to promote myself to prospective employers

i've been jobless for 8 months now

what have you been doing for the past 8 months?

leeching off parents, having fun with KL life.. what else could you ask more?

But if USA defaults no thanks to the brainless Republicans at Congress, things could get much worse.

Don't mind me to ask what are your qualifications? prefer industry?

Go to bookshop and grab some books that teach you to write better CVs and conduct better interviews.

I have heard brilliant 4As STPM and UM accountancy grads can't get into Big 4 audit firms even though they got excellent CPGA and grades because they were not expressive and creative enough during interview.

i think my CV is ok.just maybe i need to improve on my interview skills.
anyways thanks for your tips

There are books on interviews tips and common questions...

Preparation and Self Rehearsal helps

just make sure u r not ranting as this TS -> https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2727624

I've actually heard stories that one of the Big 4 actually separate their CV's into Local and Foreign Uni's and they only consider those from Foreign Universities. Not sure how true is that though

Not necessarily, I've seen PWC hire people from Unitar, ACCA undergraduates and other local unis, but they also like Australian grads, maybe they feel that these people are able to express themselves better.