Malaysia’s online hiring activity witnessed the steepest decline in Engineering, Construction and Real Estate sector at the start of second quarter (Q2) 2019, according to the Monster Employment Index (MEI).

The overall annual growth in online hiring, however, registered a seven percent increase.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) is a gauge of online job posting activity compiled monthly by Monster.com. It records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in local recruitment activity.

As per the annual industry trends in Malaysia, eight out of nine industry sectors monitored by the Index showed positive annual growth

Online hiring activity in IT, Telecom/ISP and BPO/ITES was most notable among all industries between April 2018 and 2019 by 43 percent.

The sector has been witnessing double-digit annual growth since July 2018. In the short-term, the sector fared well, too, with a 14 percent three-month growth and an eight percent six-month growth.

Notably, Retail exhibited a significant uptrend in e-recruitment activity for the second consecutive month, with an increase of 26 percent on an annual basis. However, growth momentum eased slightly between March and April 2019, recording a month-on-month  decline of two percent.

A sector that has seen a long-term growth momentum is Oil and Gas – with 16 percent growth compared to April 2018. In the short term too, the sector witnessed an uptrend with seven percent month-on-month growth, four percent on three-month growth and eight percent six-month growth.

Of the nine job-roles monitored by the Index, six recorded positive annual growth. The demand for Software, Hardware, Telecom professionals recorded an uptrend of 41 percent, witnessing double-digit growth of 32 percent on a three-month basis, and 22 percent on a six-month basis.

 For the second consecutive month, Customer Service ranked among the top growth occupations, with a 10 percent increase on-the-year. However, the growth rate eased between March and April 2019 by six percent. On a month-on-month basis, the job role experienced growth of five percent.

 Engineering/Production, Real Estate recorded the steepest year-on-year decline of six percent among occupation categories in April 2019.

“The Malaysian economy continues to expand at a steady and promising pace.The country’s main economic sectors are expected to record positive growth, with the service and manufacturing sectors projected to grow by 5.7 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. After the significant increase in the first quarter, the second quarter should continue to exhibit positive growth,” said Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster.com – APAC and Middle East.

“The boost in online hiring will likely continue to increase, though in a slow and steady manner – especially since some sectors showed steep declines.”

 The Monster Employment Index Malaysia is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Malaysia. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.