Salaries of fresh grads up by RM153, says report

Sales and marketing, information technology, and accounting and auditing jobs are the top three in terms of demand, a Jobstore report shows.

PETALING JAYA: An online job distribution platform today revealed that salaries for fresh graduates have gone up by 6% or an average of RM153 this year compared to last year.

According to the Jobstore Salary Report 2018/2019, the average salary for fresh grads with an honours degree is RM2,635, compared to RM2,482 last year.

The report said the figures are similar to numbers from data collected from the recent salary survey by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF). MEF had indicated that a fresh grad with an honours degree would get an average of RM2,618 a month, based on research done last year.

The report also indicated that Malaysian employers will hire more in 2019. It reminded employers to strike a balance in meeting their staff’s demands in terms of benefits and to continue offering these to attract and retain talents.

In terms of job demand, the report said sales and marketing, information technology, and accounting and auditing jobs have been the top three since 2018.

It said sales and marketing jobs offer high pay of up to RM40,000 for senior positions and RM15,000 for mid-management positions.

Other jobs on the top 10 list are customer service; food and beverage, tourism, hospitality; art, design, entertainment; engineering; construction and property; human resources; and business management, project and planning.

Construction and engineering sectors offer high salaries, too, of up to RM30,000 for senior posts, while mid-management wages hover between RM3,000 and RM11,000, the report said.

Business management and project planning meanwhile offers up to RM30,000 for senior posts although mid-level posts were significantly lower at a maximum of RM5,000, Jobstore found.

Jobstore said this year, the manufacturing, services, and the mining and quarrying industries are expected to grow in Malaysia.

It also indicated new demands by employers for multiple skills or “hybrid skills”, which mostly revolve around traditional and technology-related roles. It said this was caused by Malaysia’s shift into a digital economy.

Jobstore also advised employers to “upskill and reskill” their existing workforce, to fill the gap in skills to prepare workers for the future. -FMT