KUALA LUMPUR – The number of unemployed graduates dropped to 4.1% in 2021 while 33.9% of graduates were in skills-related underemployment, according to data released by the Statistics Department today.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, citing the Graduates Statistics 2021, said the number of graduates in Malaysia was 5.61 million last year, comprising 22.1% of its population in the working age of 15 years and above.
“In 2021, Malaysia’s economy gradually regained momentum towards recovery and subsequently fostered a healthier labour market situation during the year compared with 2020. In line with this, the number of employed graduates went up by 5.0% to register 4.57 million (2020: 4.35 million people).
"Around two-thirds (64.8%) were employed in the skilled occupations category. However, the number declined by 1.2% following a reduction in the managers category, while the other two skilled occupations, namely professionals and technicians and associate professionals, saw increases in the number of employed graduates,” he said in a statement today.
Graduates are defined as individuals with the highest certificate obtained from universities, colleges, polytechnics, and recognised bodies or equivalent, with a study duration of at least two years.
Uzir said that 32.9% of graduates worked in semi-skilled occupations largely as clerical support workers (14.4%), followed by service and sales workers (10.8%), craft and related trades workers (4.2%), while 2.3% were employed in the low-skilled category.
He said the country reached the second year of navigating the public health crisis, which entailed the implementation of multiple social and economic restrictions, while the structural labour market challenges remained as indicated by the continuous increase of underemployment.
He noted that the number of graduates in skills-related underemployment rose by 14.4% in 2021 as they took up jobs that did not match their qualifications, and the rate of skills-related underemployment among graduates surged by 2.7 percentage points to 33.9% after registering a significant rise of 4.4 percentage points in 2020 to record 31.2%.
From the perspective of the economic sector, he said 77.4% of graduates were employed in the services sector, followed by 13.7% in the manufacturing sector and 6% in the construction sector.
“The number of unemployed graduates decreased by 2.5% last year, after posting a double-digit surge of 22.5% in 2020. The number was higher than the pre-pandemic in 2019 which was 165.2 thousand people, he said.
Uzir also said that higher salaries and wages were recorded for graduates in 2021 compared with the preceding year, whereby the mean monthly salaries and wages grew 2.1% to RM4,582 (2020: RM4,489).
“In the skills category, salaries and wages received by graduates in all three categories had bounced back from the slip in 2020 but the levels were still below pre-pandemic,” he added. – Bernama, July 27, 2022
