PUTRAJAYA: The number of job vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2023 (Q4 2023) increased by 32.5 percent to 448,181 vacancies, compared to 338,305 in Q3 2023, according to the Job Market Insights and My Job Profile: Online Job Offers in Malaysia big data analysis released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that compared year-on-year, the number of job vacancies saw triple-digit growth of 119.2 percent, up from 77.9 percent in Q3 2023.

He added that in Q4 2023, the number of firms offering jobs increased to 85,814 from 77,499 recorded in Q3 2023.

"The highest number of job vacancies advertised online was in December 2023, with 172,777 vacancies," he said.

Commenting on job categories, he noted that nearly half of the vacancies were in professional fields, accounting for 48.9 percent or 218,947 vacancies in Q4 2023, followed by 18.5 percent (82,950) in managerial roles and 17 percent (76,284) in technical and associate professional categories.

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DOSM-VACANCIES 2 (LAST) PUTRAJAYA

Mohd Uzir stated that the highest in-demand jobs include advertising and marketing professionals, administrative associate professionals, managing directors and chief executives, accountants, auditors, and software developers.

As for vacancies by economic sector, he noted that the majority in Q4 2023 were in the services sector, accounting for 50.9 percent or 228,148 vacancies.

He said that wholesale and retail trade dominated the vacancies with 15.9 percent or 71,154 jobs, followed by manufacturing (32,976), administrative and support services (32,113), and professional, scientific, and technical activities (27,757).

Mohd Uzir added that the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of job vacancies at 81,574 or 18.2 percent, followed by Selangor with 43,673 (9.7 percent), Johor with 19,822 (4.4 percent), while Perlis had only 79 job vacancies.