Jobstreet.com: Companies are still hiring

Country Manager Chook Yuh Yng said the survey carried out on the job market for the third quarter of this year, showed that 50 per cent of respondents still planned to increase their staff strength.

"Hiring intention by employers still looks healthy despite the uncertainty in the global economy and the weak ringgit," she said during a human resource networking event here today.

She said employers from banking, engineering and retail businesses are still very keen to hire while 40 per cent of the respondents decided to maintain their staff strength while 36 per cent of the respondents decided to reduce their manpower.

However, Chook said Malaysia's employment market in the first half of this year decreased five per cent, when compared with the same period last year, as general economic conditions remained challenging given the slump in global oil prices and rising inflation at home.

"Despite the decrease in the job market, we still have over 20,000 job vacancies posted on our website. Jobseekers should remain positive and make sure that their JobStreet.com profiles are updated so that they don't miss out on opportunities," she said.

The manufacturing industry still topped the chart in offering jobs followed by the banking, construction, information technology and retail sectors.

On salaries, Chook said it ranged between RM2,100 and RM2,500 for fresh graduates while employees expected close to RM3,000.

She advised fresh graduates to be realistic in hunting for their first job and value the opportunity when it comes.

"Why stay unemployed when there are plenty of jobs in the market. Take up a job first while you continue to search for better opportunities," she said.

JobStreet.com is a leading online job board presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.