Recession

A recession is a macroeconomic term that refers to a significant decline in general economic activity in a designated region. It had been typically recognized as two consecutive quarters of economic decline, as reflected by GDP in conjunction with monthly indicators such as a rise in unemployment.

SINGAPORE: The Malaysian economy is about to feel the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the country’s top statistician.

After posting its slowest growth since the global financial crisis, the economy is set to slip into a recession in the next four to six months, according to a report by Mohd Uzir Mahidin, the chief statistician.

With its borders shut to foreigners and a standstill in commerce around the world, industries including tourism and aviation have been crippled, adding uncertainty to a rebound in trade in the first quarter.

The expected decline comes as the country’s gross domestic product grew marginally at 0.7% in the first three months of the year, the lowest since the third quarter of 2009, he said.

That growth rate is significantly less than the 3.9% to 4.2% expansion expected, with losses of RM22.8 billion (US$5.3 billion) in economic output because of a countrywide lockdown, he said.

Countries across the world began the “Great Lockdown” in March.

“From the early indications in April and May 2020, the economic environment is foreseen to be unfavourable for Malaysian businesses,” according to the report, entitled the Malaysian Economic Statistics Review.

With the global lockdown, “this unprecedented situation has caused a sharp contraction to the economy like never before.”

Source: Bloomberg.com

Comment: Is your job secured in this coming recession? This time around, things are a bit different. Even traditionally recession-proof career like early childhood educator might be at risk, due to the lockdown. Otherwise, it is relatively recession-proof. You should consider either upskilling or reskilling if your current skills are going to be less relevant or totally obsolete post-MCO/CMCO.

Among the skills that I highly recommend is to brush up your digital marketing skills as digitalisation is a must in the new norm.
And if you really hate to deal with screen and IT-related kinds of stuff, here are some other options:

– Accounting course if you love numbers
– Industrial automation if you like robotics & machinery (great prospect especially in the glove manufacturing industry during this pandemic)
Baking & Culinary if you like baking & cooking (Just like early childhood industry, F&B industry may look bleak in this year or until a vaccine for Covid-19 is found).

There are many other TVET courses that lead to jobs/careers that are not only recession-proof but also in high demand.

So, what is your interest?
What course would you like to study?
If you’re unsure or know what you want to study but don’t know where, just state your interest here.