PETALING JAYA: The economic sector recorded 177,900 job vacancies in the first quarter of 2021, the Statistics Department said.
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But despite the slight increase of 7.2% compared with the same quarter last year, the number of job vacancies had yet to hit the “normal level” of about 200,000 from pre-pandemic times, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.
About 55.5% or 98,700 vacancies in the first quarter were for semi-skilled jobs. This was followed by skilled jobs, which accounted for 23.5% or 41,800 vacancies.
The number of vacancies for low-skilled jobs came up to 37,400 or 21% of the total figure, he said.
Most of the job vacancies were in the manufacturing sector, with 100,900 openings primarily in the electrical, electronic and optical products sub-sector.
This was followed by the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic sectors, with 18,700 vacancies.
There were some 28,500 vacancies in the agriculture sector, largely in the crop and livestock sub-sector, while there were 26,800 vacancies in the services sector, particularly in wholesale and retail.
“The number of jobs in the economic sector decreased in the last four consecutive quarters to 8.437 million jobs, edging down by 1.5% year-on-year,” Uzir said.
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“The figures show that despite the increase in vacancies, the number of jobs were still lower when compared with the pre-Covid-19 crisis.”
He said new jobs created rose in the first quarter by 4% to 17,400. The majority were in the semi-skilled category, comprising 59.9% or 10,400, while the skilled category made up 30.5% with 5,300 jobs created.
The manufacturing sector recorded the largest composition of jobs created at 42.4% or 7,400 jobs, followed by the services sector at 36.6% (6,400 jobs).
Meanwhile, the remaining 21% of jobs created were in construction (16.2%), agriculture (4.3%), as well as the mining and quarrying (0.5%) sectors.
“Considering the current health crisis, the first quarter of 2021 indicated a modest recovery momentum for labour demand in Malaysia,” Uzir said.
“This was partly due to the relaxation of some restrictions imposed at the beginning of the movement control order in January this year.
“Nonetheless, various incentives and stimulus packages issued by the government are expected to improve the economic growth and subsequently facilitate and accelerate the labour market’s recovery pace.”-FMT