RECENT data from DOSM on the Sabah Quick Fact Employment Insurance System report reveals worrying patterns in the country’s employment landscape. The data shows that while job vacancies remain high, actual job placements are alarmingly low in Sabah.
Between 2022 and 2024, vacancies steadily increased from 98,523 to 114,794, while placements declined from 19,297 to 11,327. As of August 2025, the situation has worsened, with 76,408 vacancies available, but only 6,196 people have been successfully placed.
This mismatch is not just an academic exercise in numbers. It indicates a structural divide between the jobs being created and the workforce available to fill them. In 2022, nearly 40 per cent of job seekers found employment, but by 2023, the rate had dropped to 25 per cent.
As of August 2025, only 37 per cent of seekers had secured placements. On the surface, this looks like a recovery, but the apparent improvement is misleading because the number of seekers has fallen sharply, from 48,510 in 2022 to just 16,828 in 2025.
Advertisement
