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Covid-19 job survey: 58% of Malaysians looking for a new job, 15% retrenched

PETALING JAYA: Seeking a career change and better paying salaries are among the top reasons more than half of Malaysian respondents (58%) in a Ranstad survey say they intend to look for a new job in the next 12 months.

In its 2020 Covid-19 Labour Pulse Survey, recruitment agency Randstad Malaysia surveyed 531 locally-based employees between 26 June 2020 and 5 July 2020.

It found that out of the 58% of respondents who intend to look for a new job, 24% said that they were looking for a change in career or industry; 13% said their skills and experience no longer met their current job requirements, and 15% mentioned they had been retrenched.

Given the current labour market conditions, 72% of all respondents also said they were willing to take on professional contract or project-based jobs, the survey revealed.

Meanwhile, 26% of respondents reported taking a pay cut or a pay freeze either indefinitely or for a temporary period, while 24% were dissatisfied with their current salary.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has seen companies investing in building their digital infrastructure and network, leading to a great number of jobs being digitised or displaced as a result,” said Randstad’s Malaysia and Singapore managing director Jaya Dass.

“Employees whose job responsibilities have been drastically altered to meet new demands may be motivated to join other companies where their skills and experience are still relevant,” she said.

Jaya noted that some employees might even switch industries and careers altogether to look for job opportunities which could provide a greater sense of job security, such as in healthcare and technology.

She added that more movements in the job market could be expected once the economy picked up and new job opportunities arose.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/08/05/covid-19-job-survey-58-of-m039sians-looking-for-a-new-job-15-retrenched