The majority of staff (85%) responsible for hiring in small or medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Malaysia struggled to compete with multinational corporations (MNC) when it comes to hiring new talent, reports the Malay Mail, citing a report from Employment Hero. The report titled ‘State of Recruitment”,  also highlighted the increase in cost of hiring, with 52% of the respondents saying this was caused by jobseekers looking for higher wages due to the rising living costs. Other reasons listed behind the increase in the cost of hiring were labour shortage (37%), followed by the costs of job posting and commission from recruitment agencies (both at 32%). The report said this struggle is alarming since SMEs have a huge impact on the economy, and suggested that SMEs should play to their advantage by offering tailored employee packages with flexibility in working arrangements and hands-on working culture.

Last week, SME Corporation Malaysia urged micro and SMEs (MSMEs) to embrace digitalisation in closing the gap to upgrade their business processes and improve their operations.