When I read that headline, I did not read it as a statistic. It resonates with me.
I read it as 7,057 people sitting where I have sat. Staring at the same ceiling. Running the same mental calculations. Wondering how the next month is going to work out.
A total of 7,057 workers lost their jobs in April 2026, up from 5,855 in March, according to the Economy Ministry. The government says it will focus on strengthening the employment safety net amid the global supply crisis. The minister says the numbers do not yet signal a large-scale crisis.
Maybe not at the macro level. But at the individual level, every single one of those 7,057 people is right now experiencing something that I would not wish on anyone.
I have been there. I know.
The Numbers Behind the Headline
Before the personal part of this story, let us understand the full picture because the April figure does not stand alone.
Malaysia recorded 24,100 retrenchments in the first quarter of 2026 alone, a 47% increase compared to the same period last year, according to PERKESO data analysed by Hong Leong Investment Bank. Layoffs peaked at 10,700 in January, eased to 7,500 in February, dropped further to 5,855 in March, and then ticked back up to 7,057 in April. The direction is not cleanly downward. It is uneven. And that unevenness is itself a warning signal.
The manufacturing sector has been the hardest hit, reflecting its direct exposure to global trade disruptions and the ongoing supply chain crisis triggered by the West Asia conflict. But retrenchments are not confined to factories. They are spreading across sectors as rising energy costs, logistics pressures, and raw material shortages force businesses of every size to make difficult decisions about their headcount.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah was direct about the outlook: "What we are facing now is no longer a short-term shock. It is not just an issue of oil prices, but has developed into a global supply crisis affecting energy costs, logistics, raw materials, food, services and ultimately the daily lives of the people." He also warned that Q2 2026 will be a crucial period, because the impact of energy cost shocks on employment typically appears with a time delay. In other words, the worst may not yet have fully arrived.
The government has a real-time dashboard monitoring the supply crisis impact at pantaukrisis.gov.my. Worth bookmarking if you want to follow developments directly.
What a Retrenchment Letter Actually Feels Like
I am not going to dress this up.
The day you lose your job, something shifts inside you. Not just financially, though the financial reality hits hard and fast. Something deeper shifts. Your sense of routine. Your sense of identity. The quiet confidence that comes from knowing where you need to be tomorrow morning.
When I was retrenched, I remember the specific weight of the days that followed. The mental calculations that never quite stopped. The grocery bill that suddenly felt different. The phone calls I had to make that I had never expected to make. The pride that had to be set aside in order to ask for help or reach out to people who might know of opportunities.
And the loneliness of it. Because even when people around you are kind and supportive, nobody else is sitting with the specific shape of your financial anxiety at 2am.
Reading that 7,057 people went through some version of that experience in April alone, I want to say something to each of them directly.
You are not alone. And this is not the end.
The Advice I Wish Someone Had Given Me
When one door closes, another opens. I know that sounds like a motivational poster. I also know it is true, because I have lived it.
After my retrenchment I moved into self-employment. It has not been easy. It is still not easy. Some months are tighter than others. The hustle is real and it is constant. I am still working toward the kind of comfort and stability I had before. But doors have opened that were not open when I had a steady job. Clients I would not have pursued. Skills I would not have developed. A different relationship with my own capabilities and resilience.
That does not make the difficult months disappear. But it does mean that the period of losing a job, as hard as it is, is not a full stop. It is a comma.
Here is the practical advice I would give anyone holding a retrenchment letter right now.
File your PERKESO EIS claim immediately. The Employment Insurance System provides temporary financial assistance to retrenched workers, including job search allowances, early re-employment allowances, reduced income allowances, and training allowances. Many Malaysians do not know these benefits exist or do not claim them promptly. Do not leave money on the table during a period when every ringgit counts.
Reach out sooner than feels comfortable. Most people wait too long before telling their network they are looking. Pride is understandable. But your network cannot help you if they do not know you need it. A straightforward LinkedIn post, a WhatsApp message to former colleagues, a direct conversation with people in your industry, these are not signs of weakness. They are how most jobs are actually found.
Resist the pressure to take the first thing that comes along purely out of panic. Not always possible if the financial situation is acute, but where you can, give yourself a few weeks to assess what you actually want next rather than just what is immediately available.
Look at the gaps in your skills honestly. Many retrenchments happen in sectors undergoing structural change. If the industry you were in is contracting, the most useful thing you can do with transition time is develop skills that are in demand. HRDC-funded programmes, online courses, and government upskilling initiatives are available and worth investigating.
And if self-employment is something you have ever considered, a retrenchment is sometimes the push that turns consideration into action. Not every business idea works. But you will not know until you try. The worst case scenario is that it does not work out and you return to employment with more experience than you had before.
What the Government Needs to Do Better
The safety net exists. PERKESO, EIS, Sumbangan Asas Rahmah, the various retrenched worker support programmes. They are real and they provide genuine help to people who access them.
But access is the problem. The government has announced it will focus on strengthening the employment safety net in response to the rising retrenchment numbers. That is welcome. But strengthening the safety net means more than just announcing that it exists.
It means proactive outreach to retrenched workers who may not know what they are entitled to. It means simplifying the claims process so that people in crisis are not navigating bureaucracy at the worst moment of their professional lives. It means targeted assistance that reaches the B40 workers who are most vulnerable and least equipped to weather an extended period without income.
It means treating 7,057 job losses in a single month not as a data point in a press conference, but as 7,057 individual crises that deserve individual attention.
My Take
I am still rebuilding. Some months are better than others. There are days when the uncertainty of self-employment feels manageable and even energising. There are days when it feels like too much.
But I have not given up. And I will not.
To the 7,057 Malaysians who lost their jobs in April, and to the tens of thousands more who lost theirs in the months before that: the door that closed on you was not the last door. The next chapter is harder to write than the previous one was, but it is still yours to write.
Do not give up. There is a way through this. I am still finding mine, and you will find yours too.
Kamarul Azwan (k.azwan@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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