Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): As the growth of the Malaysian economy is expected to slow down in 2016, Malaysians are increasingly concerned about job security, with the number of professionals here who have expressed fear of losing their jobs more than doubling since the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14).

That was the finding of a quantitative study by recruitment service provider Randstad, called the Workmonitor Year-in-review.

Randstad Malaysia country manager Ryan Carroll said with the volatility in global financial markets and weakening commodity prices, the Malaysian Finance Ministry has forecast in their 2015/2016 Economic Report that gross domestic product growth (GDP) in 2016 will decrease year-on-year (y-o-y).

It is expected to moderate to 4%–5% in 2016, from 4.5%–5.5% in 2015.

"This expected slowing of Malaysia's economy could be one of the reasons why we see more Malaysians being worried about their job security — rising to 13% from 6% in the past year," he said in a statement.

However, despite the growing concern, a number of Malaysian professionals have expressed confidence in the external job market, when compared between the fourth quarter of 2014 and 2015.

Over 7 in 10 (74%) employees surveyed expect to find a comparable job within six months, the study showed.

However, this opinion varies in terms of age groups, with 80% of professionals in the 25 to 34-year-old age bracket expressing this confidence, compared to only 56% of those in the 55 to 64-year-old age bracket.

Nevertheless, Randstad noted that an executive briefing by Scotiabank showed that the Malaysian economy has continued to record solid growth, albeit slower growth, and that the country is likely to see real GDP growth averaging 5% y-o-y from 2015 to 2017.

Carroll said this positive outlook for the Malaysian job market was reflected in the percentage of employees who have changed jobs within the past six months, which is 43% in the second half of 2015 compared to 35% in Hong Kong and 26% in Singapore.

"According to our Workmonitor results, the highest percentage of job change was seen in the transportation (67%) and food product manufacturing (63%) industries," he added.

Job satisfaction has also increased by 4% y-o-y, with 75% of employees expressing satisfaction with their job, said Randstad. The chemical manufacturing industry topped the list with 88% of employees expressing high levels of job satisfaction, it added.

"Malaysia has been stepping up its R&D (research and development) and manufacturing capabilities in the life science industry in an effort to grow itself as a hub for the Asia-Pacific region. Employers' efforts in attracting and retaining the best talent in the industry may be attributed to the high levels of satisfaction," said Carroll.

The Randstad Workmonitor was launched in the Netherlands in 2003 and now covers 34 countries around the world, encompassing Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

The Workmonitor Mobility Index tracks employee confidence and captures expectations surrounding the likelihood of changing employers within a six-month time frame.

The quantitative study, with a sample size of at least 400 per country, is conducted via an online questionnaire with those aged 18 to 65, who are working a minimum 24 hours a week in a paid job.

 

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