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Higher pay for accounting and finance jobs in Malaysia

Market apprehension around the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has cooled off, and employment in Malaysia saw an improvement in the second quarter, said recruitment consultants Robert Walters.

In its Asia Job Index released on Wednesday, the company revealed that even job positions, which had been put on hold during the first quarter, had seen hiring during the second quarter due to reduced economic tensions.

“On the upside, the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and consumer industries remained fairly resilient to the GST implementation as Malaysians accustomed themselves to the price hikes rather quickly. 

 “We also saw increased recruitment activity within the shared services space among accounting and finance professionals, as many of them had clocked in two years′ work experience and felt it was time to explore other job opportunities,” said Robert Walters Malaysia managing director Sally Raj in a statement.

However, she said, the Malaysian market faced more challenges, the largest two being the fall in crude oil prices as well as the weakened ringgit.

“These affected investor confidence, and hence a majority of hires were replacement roles or a result of expansion within existing companies as opposed to demand from new entrants,” she said.

Among other findings in the Job Index were that companies had improved acquisition and retention policies with more flexible employee benefits in effort to stem the talent brain drain.

This, it said, had led to a 43% yearly growth in job advertisements for Human Resource professionals, especially those specialising in talent management as well as compensation and benefits.

The company also found that the drive by multinationals to centralise purchasing functions in Malaysia had fuelled the demand for procurement professionals to achieve cost efficiency, and this had increased advertising for such roles by 24% annually.