10 Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Malaysia
Flexible home-based jobs in Malaysia seem like a dream come true to some workers generally because there’s a lot less hassle when it comes to getting ready for work and you get to spend more time with your family. Most especially for parents with small children, home-based work can be a huge time and money saver.
There are some downsides, though. A lot of home-based work is incredibly independent, meaning you’ll have to use your own resources to get started. Many people who work remotely have also come to find that it’s lonelier than they expected, without a lot of the socialization they used to get in the office.
If you think the benefits outweigh the negatives, then remote work might be right for you. Read on to find out whether Malaysia’s well-suited for home-based jobs and how you can find what’s available. In the end, you’ll find a list of recommendations for home-based work you might want to consider.
Is Malaysia a good place for Home-Based Jobs?
Prior to the covid-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions on on-site work, Malaysia, like many other countries, did not have a particularly large remote workforce. Then the pandemic happened and restrictions were placed to ease the burden on the healthcare system and companies had to adapt.
Malaysian workers have heartily embraced flexible work structures. There is a general consensus that the implementation of remote or flexible work structures in Malaysia has made people both happier and healthier. Many people in the same study also expressed feeling more productive and that they were capable of producing higher-quality work.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of independent home-based jobs that you can start on your own, sourcing work from corporate or even international clients. You’ll need to start with the resources you have, but that can be as simple as a computer, some basic software, and a reliable internet connection.
How to Find Home-Based Jobs in Malaysia?
If you’re looking for a more traditional job that you can perform in the comfort of your own home, you should try searching through an online job board. They’re great resources for finding remote work because you can apply filters by location and even search for international positions with ease. Many job boards also provide additional bookmarking, sorting, and filtering options to make your job search a little easier. These are a few popular sites you should try:
- Grabjobs – Grabjobs is Malaysia’s largest job search engine. It has a whole kit and caboodle of extra resources to make job hunting easier, many of which are completely free.
- Jobstreet – Jobstreet is another job search engine that operates out of multiple countries in the APAC region, making it a great choice if you’re confident about working with employers from other countries.
- Monster – Monster is a third international employment platform that provides free tips and solutions for employers looking to navigate their current job landscape a little better.
Top 10 Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Malaysia
As a writer, you generally have options for home-based work since a lot of your work is done alone and without supervision. You can set yourself up as a freelancer, a blogger, or possibly even get hired by a company that allows you to work from home. Of course, you’ll need to be proficient in your language of choice and many companies or clients will require samples of previous work to ascertain the quality of your writing. Your income will depend largely on the value of your work and your ability to negotiate with clients if you’re a freelance writer.
If you’ve got excellent language skills but don’t prefer reading over writing, editing might be more favorable. Editors proofread work for writers. You’ll probably primarily focus on looking for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, or spelling to begin. As you get better, you might eventually be asked to check for content quality or readability.
Bookkeeping is basically the labor-intensive side of accounting and requires exceptional attention to detail. Your responsibilities will largely be to help businesses or business owners keep records of their company activities and expenditures. It’s essential for bookkeepers to be organized and responsible and in exchange, they earn a fair salary.
Blogs are an incredible way of earning what’s popularly termed ‘passive income.’ This is because some of the money you make as a blogger doesn’t directly relate to how much work you’ve put in. Some profitable bloggers can earn a steady stream of revenue with minimal website maintenance, others earn their income through reliable content creation and curation. What you should keep in mind, however, is that blogging is often slow to start up and many blogs fail without ever attaining an income stream. It’s important as a blogger to have a niche, be knowledgeable, and know how to create and maintain a high-quality website.
Many graphic designers now work for themselves (often as freelancers) because, just like writers, they don’t require a lot of oversight or input from colleagues to perform their role well. If you’re confident with graphic design rules and elements and have access to the required software, you can easily get started as a freelancer today. If all you’re lacking is equipment, you can possibly find work as a full-time remote employee or work on a retainer that maybe provides for some of the tools you need.
Virtual assistants do basically what on-site assistants do—meaning your job is going to be really specific to your employer. Some people are disorganized and need help with keeping schedules or calendars, other people might need an assistant to handle sending communications and getting feedback, etc. The tasks of a virtual assistant really depend on the person who needs the assistance. Nonetheless, if you’re considering a career as a virtual assistant, you’ll generally need to be organized, detail-oriented, and punctual.
Drop-shipping is basically sales. Your work will be to promote the products of manufacturers who don’t necessarily have a sales front. Most drop-shippers work online and create websites and content to market products from their partnered manufacturers. When they make sales, the manufacturers handle delivery and the profits are shared between producer and drop-shipper. Some drop-shippers handle their own inventory by buying stock from their partners and making deliveries themselves but that is considerably less common.
Customer service roles are some of the most frequently outsourced jobs nowadays. Many employers no longer bother with on-location customer service representatives because VoIP capabilities have expanded so greatly and many features of customer service software are easy to use, even remotely. Customers for many service businesses also tend to prefer starting virtual chats, making calls, or sending emails. As a customer service representative, you’ll need to be familiar with your company’s policies and procedures when it comes to handling customer complaints. You might also need a bit of a thick skin to cope with more hostile interactions that can sometimes occur.
If you enjoy kids and are great with children, you could consider starting an in-home childcare center. You’ll basically be starting your own business and taking care of other people’s children while they’re at work or otherwise occupied. It’s important to research and fulfill the legal requirements for starting a childcare center. Remember that the safety of the children is of the utmost importance.
Transcribing is, overall, a relatively easy job to perform. In case you’re unfamiliar, transcribers listen to audio (not necessarily attached to a video) and then convert that audio into a readable document. All you need is a computer and internet connection to really get started. It’s likely that your employer will provide software and rules for what constitutes a proper transcription. Since it’s a relatively low-skill job, it doesn’t necessarily pay particularly well but the work is fairly constant because people always need transcribers.
Find The Most Flexible Home-Based Jobs in Australia Today
Home-based work is still becoming normalized as a work structure in Malaysia, but it looks like the times are changing and that remote work will likely be here to stay—at least in part. Understandably, the shift to home-based jobs can be extremely beneficial for some workers who highly value their personal time or have extremely busy schedules.
If you’re convinced that a home-based job is the right choice and you haven’t found anything viable on this list, take a look at our list of the top 20 work from home jobs in Malaysia. It also covers the most highly-valued skills for remote employees so it’s perfect even for people who are new or returning to the workforce!
Photo by Muhammad Faiz Zulkeflee on Unsplash
