KUALA LUMPUR – The mismatch between the skills available in the Malaysian labour force and the needs and expectations of employers has more than doubled over the last two decades, said the Finance Ministry.
In its Economic Outlook 2021, it said while the graduate unemployment rate between 2001 and 2019 remained stable from 3.1% to 4%, the mismatch rate rose to more than 25% from below 15% in the same period.
“The increasing mismatch rate is a concern, as more graduates are working in the semi-skilled and low-skilled categories. The 2019 Graduates’ Tracer Study by the Higher Education Ministry also indicated that 30.6% of respondents with a tertiary education were underemployed.”
Citing a 2014 study that revealed 52% of workers were employed in jobs unrelated to their fields of study, the ministry found the main contributing factor for the mismatch to be limited jobs to meet a growing labour supply – including fresh graduates.
Last year, 6.7% of graduates were underemployed due to insufficient jobs in skilled occupations.
Also a bane for fresh graduates is that despite the creation of more than three million jobs, most are low- and semi-skilled positions.
“From the total new jobs created during the period, only 26% were in the skilled category, while the remaining 74% were in the low- and semi-skilled categories,” said the ministry.
“As of December 2019, out of the 62,400 vacancies in the market, only 5% were for a skilled workforce. In contrast, from a total of 299,600 job-seekers, 72% were graduates, of whom more than half were fresh graduates with less than a year’s experience.
“The 2019 Graduates’ Tracer Study highlighted that 13.7% of graduates were still unemployed six months after completing their studies. They were mainly graduates from education, arts and humanities, as well as agriculture and veterinary.”
The ministry found that between 2010 and last year, only 16.6% of jobs were created for youth aged between 15 and 24, despite the data showing that 78.9% of total active job-seekers were young adults.
It said a prolonged mismatch will see the workforce not fully optimised for economic growth, therefore limiting the nation’s economic potential.
It added that self-employment or gig-economy work should be explored given how it has disrupted the traditional labour market, provided that comprehensive regulations and social safety nets are in place. – The Vibes, November 6, 2020
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