Recruitment ads increase on new investments

Tuesday June 14, 2011

Malaysia job ads rose 33% in Q1

By SHARIDAN M. ALI
sharidan@thestar.com.my

Recruitment ads increase on new investments

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia, recently included in the Asia Job Index, recorded a 33% rise in job advertising numbers from January to March this year.

Asia Job Index is published by international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

According to Robert Walters Malaysia country manager Sally Raj, recruitment advertising levels in Malaysia had gradually increased over the past quarter as companies continued to invest in new business development initiatives to spur growth.

“The region remains something of a safe haven from the effects of the global financial crisis and the Government continues to introduce projects and initiatives for both developing and existing businesses and attracting skilled Malaysians back to meet demand for professional and skilled talents.

“The main challenge for businesses is the ability to retain and attract the best talents,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Quarter on quarter (q-o-q) or year-on-year (y-o-y) comparison were not available for Malaysia as the country is new to the index.

For other countries in the region, Robert Walters noted that hiring levels within China had remained stable over the past quarter, with the number of job advertisements increasing by 3% the first quarter on a on a q-o-q basis.

China's job advertisements for roles in marketing and advertising saw a 11% growth q-o-q as companies looked to maximise sales due to returning consumer confidence.

For Hong Kong, the level of job advertisements remained largely consistent from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter this year, with a rise of only 4% with property management and operations and logistics sectors showing significant growth.

In Singapore, the number of job advertisements grew by 22% q-o-q following strong growth in March, as companies ended any short term recruitment freezes and recruitment levels increased as a result of its recent election.

In Japan, advertising activity slowly gained momentum through the quarter until the devastating earthquake and tsunami of early March.

In the first quarter this year, Japan's job advertisements contracted by 18% from the previous quarter.

South Korea, also a first time entrant in the index, saw job advertising through the quarter increased by 70% from January to March.

In a nutshell, Robert Walters said recruitment advertising volumes in March reached their highest levels since the inception of the Asia Job Index in the second quarter of 2008.

“Recruitment advertising activity has remained steady, rising 2% from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the first quarter this year.

“This is largely due to the effects of the festive period and pending bonus payments, which historically result in a slowdown in hiring activities.

“Y-o-y growth in job advertising remains strong across the region, increasing by 61% from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, predominantly on the back of strong growth in China and Japan,” it said.