{"id":55871,"date":"2026-10-30T12:52:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/?p=55871"},"modified":"2026-10-30T12:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:22:04","slug":"foundit-insights-tracker-malaysia-sept-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/foundit-insights-tracker-malaysia-sept-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia\u2019s Hiring Landscape in September 2026: foundit Insights Tracker\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Overview of Hiring Activity<\/strong><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malaysia&rsquo;s online hiring activity rose 32% year-on-year in September 2026, measured against a soft year-ago base. Month-on-month, hiring rose 5%. It was the first monthly gain after two consecutive pullbacks, led by retail, sales and business development, and supply chain roles.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over a shorter horizon, the index is 7% lower than three months ago and 11% higher than six months ago. Hiring has settled at a steadier level below its June high rather than resuming its first-half climb. The rebound eases concerns of a sustained slide, but whether it lasts depends on retail and sales demand holding into the final quarter.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Growth remains concentrated in construction, supply chain and engineering roles. Frontline hiring in hospitality and customer service stays well below year-ago levels.&nbsp;<\/p><div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file aligncenter\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_MY_September_26.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of &lt;strong&gt;Malaysia Hiring Trends in September_26&lt;\/strong&gt;.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-17e0273a-f7eb-4854-b58b-d3c4bfa578cb\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_MY_September_26.pdf\"><strong>Malaysia Hiring Trends in September_26<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_MY_September_26.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-17e0273a-f7eb-4854-b58b-d3c4bfa578cb\">Download<\/a><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hiring Trends by Industry (YoY change)<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>7 out of 10 industries tracked by the Index registered year-on-year growth in September 2026, with Engineering, Logistics and Manufacturing leading.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<br><strong>In demand<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Engineering, Construction &amp; Real Estate (+36%)<\/strong> The top performer for a fourth consecutive month. Data-centre and public infrastructure projects in Johor and Selangor continue to keep contractors hiring.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Logistics, Courier\/Freight\/Transportation &amp; Shipping\/Marine (+21%)<\/strong> A firm second place. The gain is narrower than in recent months because September 2025 was a stronger base, but distribution networks are still expanding.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Production\/Manufacturing, Automotive &amp; Ancillary (+17%)<\/strong> Factory and assembly hiring is benefiting from the manufacturing build-out across Penang and the northern corridor.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/search\/oil-gas-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oil &amp; Gas<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (+14%)<\/strong> Project-linked and operational hiring keeps the sector comfortably above year-ago levels.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>IT, Telecom\/ISP &amp; <strong><strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/search\/bpo-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BPO<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/strong>\/ITES (+12%)<\/strong> Still positive, though technology hiring has cooled from its June high as AI infrastructure projects move from build-out to steady-state staffing.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>BFSI (+9%)<\/strong> The narrowest gain among growing sectors, as lenders hire selectively for growth and compliance roles.&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Facing challenges<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Advertising, Market Research, PR, Media &amp; Entertainment (&minus;14%)<\/strong> Slipped into decline, largely because hiring was unusually high in September 2025 rather than because of a sharp drop this year.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Retail (&minus;18%)<\/strong> Hiring recovered over the month, but soft discretionary spending keeps the sector well short of last year.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hospitality (&minus;22%)<\/strong> The steepest industry decline, holding near its lowest level since October 2024 as operators keep staffing lean.&nbsp;<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hiring Trends by Functional Area (YoY change)<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>7 out of 10 functional areas recorded year-on-year growth in September 2026. Supply chain and engineering roles lead, while hospitality and customer service roles remain under the heaviest pressure.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>&nbsp;<strong>In demand<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Purchase\/Logistics\/Supply Chain (+49%)<\/strong> The fastest-growing function for a tenth consecutive month. Distribution, warehousing and manufacturing supply chains are expanding together.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>&nbsp;<strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/search\/production-engineering-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Engineering\/Production<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (+31%)<\/strong> A sharp climb on construction and factory activity. A softer year-ago comparison also lifts the figure.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>HR &amp; Admin (+13%)<\/strong> Employers continue to build recruitment and compliance capacity to support expansion.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/search\/marketing-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marketing &amp; Communications<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (+9%)<\/strong> Brands are keeping campaign work in-house, which sustains demand for marketing talent.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Software, Hardware &amp; Telecom (+6%)<\/strong> Infrastructure and support roles keep technology functions positive.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Sales &amp; Business Development (+1%)<\/strong> Back in line with year-ago levels after a solid monthly rebound, as firms begin cautiously adding commercial capacity.&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Facing challenges<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Finance &amp; Accounts (&minus;4%)<\/strong> Slipped below last year&rsquo;s level as finance teams hold headcount tight.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Customer Service (&minus;31%)<\/strong> AI-driven self-service continues to reduce demand for traditional frontline support roles.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hospitality Roles (&minus;39%)<\/strong> The sharpest functional decline, as hotels staff to subdued demand.&nbsp;<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br><strong>About the foundit Insights Tracker<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) Malaysia (formerly the Monster Employment Index) is a monthly benchmark of online hiring activity across the nation. By analysing millions of job postings, fit provides timely, data-led intelligence on recruitment trends across industries, occupations, and skill categories, helping organisations and talent navigate an evolving labour market.&nbsp;<\/p><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview of Hiring ActivityMalaysia&rsquo;s online hiring activity rose 32% year-on-year in September 2026, measured against a soft year-ago base. Month-on-month, hiring rose 5%. It was the first monthly gain after two consecutive pullbacks, led by retail, sales and business development, and supply chain roles.&nbsp;&nbsp;Over a shorter horizon, the index is 7% lower than three months &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/foundit-insights-tracker-malaysia-sept-2026\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Malaysia\u2019s Hiring Landscape in September 2026: foundit Insights Tracker\u00a0<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":48300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights-tracker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55873,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55871\/revisions\/55873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.my\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}