Between January and May this year, 38,953 workers in Malaysia were retrenched. The numbers come from Perkeso’s Employment Insurance System (EIS), which tracks job losses across the country. Most of the people who lost their jobs were aged 25 to 39. 

At the same time, the overall job market has kept growing. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) latest Labour Force report, the total number of employed people rose from 16.77 million in January to 16.82 million in April. That is roughly 50,000 more people with jobs over four months.

Who Was Affected

Men made up 60.4% of those retrenched (23,536 people), while women accounted for 39.6% (15,417 people).

The job losses happened mostly in manufacturing, wholesale and retail, motor vehicle repair, and administrative and support services. Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan explained that companies were mainly cutting roles because they were reorganising or adjusting how they operate.

Most Of The Layoffs Happened Early This Year

The first three months of 2026 saw the sharpest job losses. In that period alone, 24,100 workers were retrenched, which is 47% more than the roughly 16,500 who lost their jobs in the same months last year.

January was the worst month, with 10,700 cases. That dropped to 7,500 in February and 5,900 in March. In just the first 16 days of April, another 4,708 people lost their jobs.

Many companies appear to have done their restructuring at the start of the year, possibly because they were planning budgets for the year ahead or reacting to changes in demand from overseas.

The Job Market Is Growing, But Not In The Same Places

Even with the retrenchments, Malaysia’s employment numbers have held up. The unemployment rate in April 2026 was 3.0%, up slightly from 2.9% in the months before. The country’s labour force reached 17.33 million people, and the participation rate (how many working-age adults are either employed or looking for work) stood at 70.9%.

The industries cutting workers and the industries hiring are not the same. Factories and office support roles are shrinking, while services, food and beverage, hotels, information and communication, transport, and tech-related jobs are growing. Manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and mining also added workers during this period, though in smaller numbers.

Ramanan said the government needs to speed up efforts to help retrenched workers move into sectors that are hiring. Because most of those affected are younger adults with qualifications, the focus is on retraining them with skills that match what growing industries need. At 25 to 39, these workers already have years of experience in their current fields, which means retraining into a different sector is still a realistic path.

Help Available For Retrenched Workers

If someone loses their job, the first thing they should do is file a claim with EIS. This is a government scheme that gives retrenched workers a monthly allowance for up to six months while they look for new work. It also covers training and career counselling. The claim must be made within 60 days of the last day of employment.

The government has also pointed retrenched workers to MYFutureJobs for job matching, and to Labour Market Exchange (LMX) and MYFutureJobs Galaxy for information on which industries are hiring and what skills they want.

Perkeso is running training programmes aimed at growing sectors, covering career transition support, skills training, and early action in industries that may face more job cuts. The economy did add about 50,000 jobs between January and April, so jobs are being created for those ready to move into them.

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