Looking for work in Malaysia

Hello chrishills123,

Welcome to Expat.com 

By creating your CV in the Jobs in Kuala Lumpur section, this might help you find something interesting. 

Best luck,

Cheryl
Expat.Com Team.

So  do you have a degree? That is 101 requirement for any work permit or permission to work one a LTSVP ("spouse visa") nowadays.

20-30 years ago yes some arrived without one and were successful, I know a couple who did, but nowadays it's required.

Secondly visas, you don't have much of an advantage being married to a Malaysian, and suffer the "local hire so we pay you half" issue. Be careful of scumbag agents offering to set you up with your own business. You can do that without them, but isn't a good idea when arriving. Successful expats I know worked first then went into business for themselves after a few years.

Thirdly doing this when the government has said no new expats so locals can get jobs? The Malaysian economy is going down the toilet. I strongly recommend you wait 2 years to allow for a recovery. Beware of the scumbag boiler room and "financial sales"  scammers. You will end up broke and or being on an FBI most wanted list.

Fourthly being back in Malaysia with a local wife after many years can be very stressful on a relationship. Do some research, you will see there is a higher divorce rate especially as the local partner suffers worse from reverse culture shock.

Lastly the main areas for expat employment are IT, education, distribution, aviation and oil and gas. You need either to see how you fit into those industries or retrain. You are very young to be an expert, only IT usually are, so getting a decent job will be hard especially in a global great recession.

I suggest you plan ahead for a move, get work before you move. Good luck!

Nemodot says it correctly and could have said more, too.

1. Covid has knocked the stuffing out of the economy. Considering that USA currently has 50% unemployment, how do you think things are here in the third world? Locally, people I know have either lost their jobs outright or have agreed to take part-time employment within their companies, or work part-time from home if their position allowed such work, or continue at their jobs but at greatly reduced salary. People are skipping bill payments, shops are only partially opened, unemployment is rising by the minute, outlook has never been more grim. This isnt turning around soon. Currently there are more than 1 million business-factory closure/bankruptcy in China on which Malaysia is heavily dependent. Even oil-gas here is on the rocks because of down prices of oil. However, Trump made a deal to restrict oil production which is causing prices to rise so thats good for the employment picture.

2. You have to look at your skills more carefully. What is it that you can do? Can you manage children? Can you create and manage budgets? Are you a good salesman? Can you draw? Do you know how to manage a group of people? Do you have any jungle survival skills? Can you sail a boat? Do you have hot kitchen skills? Are you a good time manager? List out your skills and consider how to apply them to ANY industry and forget being stuck in a single industry.

3. Absolutely I agree with Nemodot that you shouldnt come looking for work but considering your skill set apply from abroad to companies that could benefit from your skills. Do you have any friends working in Malaysia now who you can twist their arm for any kind of job at all? Chances are though, if an expat loses his job now, the respective company will either not re-fill the position at all or look for a local at a cheap price which is in line with the govt plan to oust all expats eventually.

The period 1998-2004 was a pretty hot time for expat employment and its been going down ever since. The government does bring in foreign consultants and others for temporary work (for example in the light-rail sector) but offers no long-term or permanent deals. I mention this because you, in having to be flexible, MAY find something in a short term project like 3-6 months to accomplish a task but I dont know how that would work for a visa.

All governments want to kill the virus so they can then focus on the economic fallout which is enormous and brutal. You may have to drop what you are doing, abandon your ideas and re-invent your life with totally new skills and goals. Total re-invention is what Covid is giving birth to now, whatever and wherever that may lead a person.

In my opinion, the problem with qualifications and experience such as yours is that it is very common out here and locals have a far lower salary expectancy than expats as well as having no issues with working permits, visas etc. Also Malaysians are highly qualified with so many of them getting their degrees and Master degrees overseas in places like the UK and Australia and so on. If you have been working since you were 19 then I am guessing that you won't have a degree?

All the points mentioned above are very relevant which makes it even more difficult. If I were in your position I would be looking for any kind of job that I could find, not just in Malaysia but in other neighbouring countries.