KUALA LUMPUR: The pent-up energy from lockdowns is expected to drive employment growth in Malaysia, according to Randstad Malaysia 2022 Market Outlook.
Randstad Malaysia head of operation Fahad Naeem said employees in Malaysia had a lot of pent-up energy after staying at home for more than six months in 2021.
"Many of them are eager to get out of the house and make lifestyle adjustments once restrictions are fully lifted and as activities return to normal," he said in a statement.
Fahad said Malaysian workers might also have the motivation to hunt for new jobs, especially if they had planned to do so before the lockdowns and want to take advantage of the new job opportunities once businesses restore their full operations.
He said some employees might be compelled to change jobs as a result of negative work experiences they have had during the lockdown,
"This includes working with a bad manager or not having adequate support to work from home," he added.
Fahad said even as Ranstand anticipates that more people would re-enter the job search market, companies should not mistake it as a bigger candidate pool to tap into.
"Industries like technology, manufacturing as well as banking and financial services are facing hiring challenges due to the mismatch between their company's digital growth ambition and the shortage of qualified talent to realise their business goals," he said.
Fahad said due to the further tightening policies on hiring foreign workers, many employers are looking to hire skilled and digitally-adept talent locally to support their digital transformation projects.
In particular, talent in cybersecurity, blockchain, digital banking and the Internet of Things (IoT) are in very high demand.
"Many companies are also expecting candidates in other functions such as human resources, sales and marketing as well as accounting and finance to be familiar with working on digital platforms and processes.
"Candidates are also held to higher expectations in terms of their ability to think creatively and adopt technology to improve operations and boost productivity," he added.