KUALA LUMPUR: The number of jobs available in the private sector stood at 8.45 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020), a decrease of 204,000 jobs compared with 8.66 million available in Q4 2019, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decline indicated slower labour demand resulting from the resurgence of Covid-19 cases and the ensuing containment measures during the quarter.
“The jobs are largely in the semi-skilled category at 62.4 per cent, followed by skilled (24.4 per cent) and low-skilled (13.2 per cent),” he said in a statement in conjunction with the release of the “Employment Statistics Fourth Quarter 2020” report today.
He said 51.6 per cent of the jobs during the period were in the services sector, followed by manufacturing (26.7 per cent), construction (15.2 per cent) and agriculture and mining and quarrying (6.5 per cent).
Mohd Uzir said the rate of filled jobs stood at 97.9 per cent or 8.28 million in Q4, compared with 8.29 million in Q3.
He said the semi-skilled jobs category dominated the filled jobs in Q4 with a share of 62.6 per cent, rising from 62.4 per cent in Q3; whereas skilled jobs accounted for 24.4 per cent.
Quarter-on-quarter, almost all sectors recorded lower numbers of filled jobs except in the manufacturing sector, where it rose by 5,900 filled jobs to 2.16 million.
Mohd Uzir said there were 176,000 job vacancies in Q4, lower by 3,400 from the previous quarter, while year-on-year, the job vacancies were lower by 22,000.
He said job vacancies in the quarter were largely semi-skilled jobs (98,200) followed by skilled jobs (40,500).
“Job vacancies by economic sectors were primarily in manufacturing (55.6 per cent) — mostly in the sub-sector of electrical, electronic and optical products (17.6 per cent); followed by petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (10.5 per cent),” he said.
Mohd Uzir said 16,700 jobs were created in the private sector amidst the slower economic performance caused by the Covid-19 crisis in Malaysia.
“However, compared with the previous quarter, the number of jobs created fell by 4,300,” he said.
In terms of skills, semi-skilled jobs creation accounted for 63.2 per cent (10,600 jobs), followed by skilled (29.5 per cent / 4,900 jobs) and low-skilled (7.3 per cent / 1,200 jobs).
He said most of the jobs created were in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 6,800 jobs (40.5 per cent), mainly in the electrical, electronic and optical products sub-sector.
On the other hand, he said the wholesale and retail trade subsector posted the highest jobs created in the services sector with 2,100 jobs (12.7 per cent).
Mohd Uzir said Q4 2020 was indeed challenging for the labour market due to the impact from the third wave of Covid-19 and the re-imposition of the conditional movement control order with stricter rules in selected areas of the country, particularly in the last two months of 2020.
“Undoubtedly, the daily economic activities were adversely affected, especially for local businesses and small enterprises.
“Thus, with the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection (Permai) assistance package, it is hoped that the economy will be manageable and able to provide more opportunities for businesses to recover gradually in 2021 and subsequently create more job openings,” he added. – Bernama
