Covid-19: Malaysian job losses could hit over two million, new survey finds

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — A recent survey by recruitment company JobStreet has revealed up to 20 per cent of respondents have been retrenched, amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey, conducted in May and involving 5,000 participants, indicated that one in five Malaysians who were previously working have lost their jobs due to Covid-19. It also revealed that more than two million Malaysians are expected to end up unemployed.

“Thirty-five per cent of Malaysians have experienced a salary reduction of more than 30 per cent during the movement control order period,” said JobStreet country manager Gan Bock Herm in a statement. He added that 54 per cent of the survey’s respondents are actively searching and applying for jobs, despite the uncertainty.

In spite of the grim outlook, several sectors in Malaysia are still actively looking for employees, which include computer and information technology, manufacturing and production, banking and financial services, retail and merchandise, as well as healthcare and medicine.

“There are more job searches in Malaysia today, with over 74 million searches on Google in March, an increase by 13 per cent before Covid-19 struck and 16 per cent more than compared to the same period last year.

“In addition to the over five million searches on Google for career advice, JobStreet ended up being directly searched for when searching for a jobsite platform 80 per cent of the time,” Gan said.

-Malay Mail