Overview

Introduction

This publication presents the labour demand statistics derived from the Quarterly Employment Survey conducted among registered private sector businesses encompassing major economic activities namely, Agriculture, Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing, Construction and Services. The principal statistics of employment presented in this report are jobs, filled jobs, vacancies and jobs created by economic activity and skills category.

Labour Demand, First Quarter of 2026

During this quarter, the total number of jobs, which made up of filled jobs and vacancies, reached 9.23 million (Q1 2025: 9.06 million). The number of filled jobs expanded by 1.8 per cent year-on-year to record 9.03 million (Q1 2025: 8.87 million), with a filled jobs rate of 97.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of vacancies rose to 194.8 thousand, an increase of 0.4 per cent year-on-year (Q1 2025: 194.1 thousand), representing a vacancy rate of 2.1 per cent. On the contrary, the number of jobs created decreased marginally by 1.5 per cent on yearly basis to 32.7 thousand jobs.

Labour Demand by Skills Category

The total number of jobs in skilled category reached 2.33 million with a 2.6 per cent year-on-year growth from 2.29 million in Q1 2025. The filled jobs rate for this category stood at 97.9 per cent, equating to 2.28 million jobs whilst the vacancy rate was 2.8 per cent, representing 48.7 thousand vacancies. In contrast, the number of jobs created decreased by 4.2 per cent on yearly basis, totalling to 8.6 thousand jobs (Q1 2025: 8.9 thousand).   

The semi-skilled category led employment with 5.73 million jobs, marking a 1.3 per cent year-on-year increase. Of this total, 98.1 per cent (5.62 million) of positions were filled, while 1.9 per cent (107.9 thousand) remained vacant. Furthermore, 21.0 thousand jobs were created, rose by 0.8 per cent as compared to 20.8 thousand jobs created in Q1 2025. 

In the low-skilled category, a total of 1.16 million jobs were recorded, edged up by 2.9 per cent (Q1 2025: 1.13 million). Alongside this growth, the number of filled jobs in this category increased to 1.13 million corresponding to a filled jobs rate of 96.7 per cent. Job vacancies, comprising 3.3 per cent (38.2 thousand) were recorded in this category. Additionally, jobs created fell by 8.6 per cent year-on-year to 3.2 thousand from 3.5 thousand in Q1 2025.

Analysing further the percentage share by skills category, the semi-skilled category represented the largest share of labour demand accounting for more than half across all indicators, followed by the skilled and low-skilled categories. This category accounted for 62.1 per cent of total jobs, 62.2 per cent of filled jobs, 55.4 per cent of vacancies and 64.1 per cent of jobs created. The skilled category ranked as the second-largest contributor, with shares of 25.3 per cent of total jobs and filled jobs, 25.0 per cent of vacancies and 26.1 per cent of jobs created. On the other hand, the low-skilled category held the smallest proportion, contributing 12.6 per cent of jobs, 12.5 per cent of filled jobs, 19.6 per cent of vacancies and 9.8 per cent of jobs created.

Labour Demand by Economic Activity

Analysing economic activities across all sectors shows that the Services sector accounted for the largest share of total jobs at 52.5 per cent (4.84 million). The Manufacturing sector followed as the second-largest contributor with 27.3 per cent (2.52 million), while the Construction and Agriculture sectors contributed 13.9 per cent (1.28 million) and 5.4 per cent (502.5 thousand), respectively. Meanwhile, the Mining & Quarrying sector recorded the lowest share at 0.9 per cent (80.4 thousand).

Likewise, the Services sector accounted for the largest share of filled jobs at 53.3 per cent (4.82 million). The Manufacturing and Construction sectors followed suit with shares of 26.7 per cent (2.41 million) and 13.9 per cent (1.25 million), respectively. The Agriculture sector contributed 5.2 per cent (470.5 thousand), while the Mining & Quarrying sector recorded a share of  0.9 per cent (79.8 thousand).

Most of job vacancies were in the Manufacturing sector, with a share exceeding half of total vacancies at 58.0 per cent (113.0 thousand). The Agriculture sector contributed 16.4 per cent (32.0 thousand), followed closely by Services at 12.7 per cent (24.6 thousand) and Construction at 12.6 per cent (24.6 thousand). The Mining & Quarrying sector contributed a marginal share of 0.3 per cent (0.5 thousand).

Furthermore, jobs created were concentrated in the Services sector, constituting 48.6 per cent (15.9 thousand), followed by the Manufacturing sector at 36.5 per cent (11.9 thousand). The Construction, Agriculture and Mining & Quarrying sectors accounted for the remaining share of jobs created at 9.9 per cent (3.2 thousand), 4.3 per cent (1.4 thousand) and 0.7 per cent (0.2 thousand), respectively.

The publication of the Employment Statistics, First Quarter of 2026 can be downloaded through eStatistik portal.

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA
14 May 2026

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