This is why you can't find that 'right job' online

If one wonders why its so hard to find the right job in employment websites, it is partly because employers are just not listing as many positions as they used to on cyberspace.

E-recruitment in Malaysia has dropped significantly over the past year, recording a 28 percent decline in job postings, according to the Monster Employment Index (MEI), a monthly gauge of online job posting activity in the country.

The report finds that only certain sectors are hiring, while others are a lot more cautious in their recruitment.

Below is the breakdown of which industry and occupation have grown the most and the least over the past year.

E-recruitment pattern in Malaysia for the last 18 months (August 2014 to January 2016)

While the annual pace of decline in Malaysia's hiring activities has eased slightly (from December 2015 to January 2016), Malaysia's struggling economic growth continues to take its toll on the country's hiring situation, registering a -28% year-over-year decline.

According to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI) report, a monthly gauge of online job posting activity in Malaysia, this is a marginal improvement from the -33% year-over-year decline in between December 2014 and 2015.

None of the sectors tracked by the Index registered a positive annual growth. Between January 2015 and 2016, the Oil and Gas sector reported no change in online hiring, at 0% year-over-year. This is also the only sector that witnessed a positive month-on-month growth.

On the other hand, the Logistics, Courier/Freight/Transportation and Shipping/Marine industry performed the worst between January 2015 and 2016, recording a -33% annual decline.

Annual demand across all occupational groups continues to witness a decline, with the Marketing and Communications roles experiencing the least annual dip at -1%. The pace of growth in the group has also slowed down between December 2015 and January 2016.

Demand for Software, Hardware, Telecom jobs continue to register the sharpest decline at -66% year-over-year.

"Global sluggish economic growth has led to a slow-down in hiring activity amongst companies in Malaysia, as recruiters remain cautious, holding off on new recruits. The second half of the year however, appears to be more promising as Malaysia's financial climate is likely to stabilise with declining oil prices and depreciation of the ringgit," said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong).

"In addition, it is likely that IT professionals would experience a surge in demand as Malaysia slowly transforms into the Asia Pacific hub for IT consulting and shared services. Furthermore, as more MNCs move to Malaysia, demand for Accounting and Finance professionals are also expected to rise in the country."

The Monster Employment Index Malaysia is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities, culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Malaysia. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.