by NUR HANANI AZMAN/ pic by TMR FILE

JOBS in the private sector have decreased to 8.38 million in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20) from the 8.57 million recorded in 1Q20 and 8.62 million in 2Q19.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia said this is a drop by 236,000 year-on-year (YoY).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said during the quarter, the rate of filled jobs fell 0.1 percentage points as against the previous quarter to 98%.

This translates the total filled jobs to 8.2 million, while job vacancies stood at 170,000, he added.

“With most economic activities impeded in April and gradual leeway throughout May and June, businesses were still subjected to strict standard operating procedures.

“Interstate travel ban caused the mobility of the people to be restricted, which further impacted business revenue,” he said in a statement yesterday.

These subsequently caused fewer labour demands by industries, as reflected by the lower number of job vacancies compared to a year ago, said Mohd Uzir.

Meanwhile, the rate of vacancies decreased by 0.5 percentage points YoY to 2% but grew marginally by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

He said more than half of job vacancies were semi-skilled, while skilled jobs encompassed 23.1%.

“By economic activities, 55.1% of the job vacancies were in the manufacturing sector particularly in the manufacturing of computer, electronic and optical products, rubber and plastics products, chemical and pharmaceutical products, and food products.

“As for services with a share of 17.3%, most of the vacancies were in wholesale and retail trade, land transport, warehousing and support activities for transportation, food and beverage, and finance and insurance industries,” he said.

He added that a significant number of job vacancies were in the agriculture sector, largely in crops and animal production including oil palm.

Despite softer labour demand, there were still 12,000 jobs created in 2Q20, although this amounted to about a half of the average quarterly jobs created last year, he explained.

Mohd Uzir said the country’s business community is primarily made up of small and medium enterprises and the stimulus packages introduced in stages since the beginning of the Movement Control Order have been beneficial to the businesses going into the recovery period.

“As the new normal sets in, these businesses begin to strategise to meet the changing needs of consumers, which in turn may gradually shift the requirement of employees’ skill-sets.

“On the supply side, jobseekers could leverage upon the current labour demand to re-examine and expand their skills, knowledge, increase agility, and subsequently raise employability in the labour market,” he said.

The statistics were published in the Employment Statistics 2Q20 report based on the Quarterly Employment Survey conducted on formal private sector establishments.

The report presented labour demand statistics, encompassing jobs, filled jobs, vacancies and jobs created by skill category and economic activity.

Meanwhile, the Census of Malaysia 2020 has started its first online phase from July 7 to Sept 30, 2020, while the second phase will begin on Oct 7 to 24, 2020, using face-to-face interviews.

Mohd Uzir hoped that all Malaysians would give full cooperation to ensure the success of the census.

Further information on the Census 2020 can be obtained through its portal www.mycensus.gov.my or social media @MyCensus2020.