If you’re wondering why you haven’t received any word on the job application you sent, well there is a reason for that, Monster Job one of the largest online employment sites globally has announced the release of the first ever Monster Employment Index (MEI) in Malaysia and its not looking good. Reporting an overall decline by 23% in online employment activities across the country.

The site compiled data based on real-time review of millions of job opportunities culled from a large representative of career websites and online job listings across Malaysia, and tracks the growth of online recruitment in Malaysia, including results from across industries and occupations. Interestingly, the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industry experienced the most growth in online recruitment with 12% year-on-year growth. With HR & Admin experiencing the lowest at -23%, advertising, market research, PR, media and entertainment industry slumped the most with -27%. A shortage in qualified and skilled candidates and higher salary demand has prompted this slowdown in hiring activity in the local market.

With another 6,000 MAS employees from various fields to be off-loaded the statistics will see further negative impact and tougher job opportunity.