KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian manufacturers hired more workers in the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 2022), making it the first expansion of the workforce in the sector in 10 months.
While still modest, the rate of job creation in the quarter was the sharpest since April 2019, S&P Global said.
It said the hiring of additional staff was part of efforts by manufacturers to ease backlogs, adding that the lack of pressure from the inflow of new orders also helped.
“Outstanding business, therefore, decreased significantly in September, the greatest extent in just under two years,” it said in a note accompanying its purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the Malaysian manufacturing sector today.
The PMI dropped to 49.1 in September from 50.3 in August.
S&P said the purchasing activity moderated for the first time in four months as businesses responded to a lack of customer demand. However, the reduction in input buying was only marginal.
“Lower purchasing and efforts to limit stock holdings led to a reduction in pre-production inventories, and one that was the most marked since August 2021. Stocks of finished goods were also down, with manufacturers often favouring the use of existing inventories to meet new order requirements rather than expanding production,” it said.
S&P Global market intelligence economics director Andrew Harker said there were further signs in September that the rebound in growth in the Malaysian economy seen earlier in the year could be losing steam as challenging conditions across the global manufacturing sector limited demand and production at Malaysian firms as well.
“That said, the latest PMI data are still indicative of growth in official data across Q3 2022. The main positive from the latest survey was a renewed expansion in employment, helping firms to keep on top of workloads and setting a base to expand output in the future should demand start to regain momentum,” he added.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2022/10/03/factories-recruiting-more-workers/