Online recruitment in Malaysia fell by 2% in March 2021 when compared to March 2020, according to data from the Monster Employment Index.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) decreased to 62 in March 2021 from 63 in March 2020.

Month-on-month, there’s a jump in the index as job demand saw growth of 27% (the February 2021 index was 49).

According to Monster, recruitment activity is getting back to Pre-Covid levels.

By industry, 7 out of 9 industries monitored by the Index recorded an improvement in March 2021 on annual basis.

Logistic, Courier/Freight/Transportation, Shipping/Marine (42%), IT, Telecom/ISP, BPO/ITES (33%) and Oil and Gas (21%) industries saw the steepest growth in online recruitment activity in March 2021 from the year-ago level.

All monitored industries except Retail (-33%) and Hospitality (-27%), saw growth in online recruitment activity on a year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, 8 out of 9 functional areas monitored by the Index registered an increase in annual demand in March 2021.

Annual online demand for all professionals saw a jump in March 2021. Customer Service (+94%), Software, Hardware, Telecom (+27%) and Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply chain (+22%) noticed the sharpest rise in recruitment activity from the year ago level.

All functional areas except Hospitality & Travel (-50%) noted the growth in hiring demand.