Research says Malaysian Youth are 'Over-Educated' in Low-Skilled Jobs

Khazanah Research Institute just released a study named “School-To-Work Transition Report”, focused on detailing the transition from school to work in Malaysia. The report has dispelled a number of common misconceptions about young generation of working Malaysians, such as young people are too choosy, have unrealistic wage expectations and are asking too much.

The report, which was released on 12th December 2018, argued that youth should not be seen as choosy. A large amount of young workers are working in unskilled jobs in which they are over-qualified. Most in unskilled and low-skilled jobs are over-educated and their current jobs are irrelevant to their level or fields of education.

Over-educated and over-qualified

95% of the job seekers end up in unskilled jobs with half of them being over-educated for their jobs. They are likely to earn less than they otherwise could have in jobs that matched their level of education.

Source: Khazanah Research Institute

The report also said that employers identify high income as what youth most want out of a job but young people prioritise job security and work-life balance. The report said that “High income is only fourth in the youth list of job priorities.”

The survey also found that young people see foreign workers as a threat to their job opportunities, which contrasts the common belief that youths do not want jobs done by foreign workers. “They want the high skilled expatriate jobs and when they do not want migrant jobs it is not just because they are dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs but because of low pay compared to what they could earn for similar jobs in Singapore," the report noted.

New job patterns

The changing patterns of youth employment has also been highlighted in the report. "More and more young people are going into temporary, part time, casual, zero contract work. They are doing gig work, freelance work, crowd work, all made possible by the spread of the internet.

"These new types of jobs that did not exist in the time of their parents offer greater opportunities for the digitally savvy young people. But these jobs with limited access to social security and health insurance and often involve work-related stress due to unstable incomes and job insecurity," it said.

Employers' hiring choices revealed

The report also revealed employers’ hiring preferences. Employers typically prefer workers aged between 25 - 29 years old, for skilled or professional workers. For low-skilled and manual jobs, employers favour younger people who are below 25 years old. For skilled positions, public sector employers favour those between 25 - 29 years but they would rather hire people below 25 years for low skilled jobs.

Source: Khazanah Research Institute

As for educational qualifications, the report said that there are clear differences for skilled and low-skilled workers. Large companies prefer undergraduates from local universities for skilled workers. While small companies have lower educational requirements, with 63% choose SPM holders.

The survey, which collected almost 24,000 respondents, targeted youth in upper secondary schools, youth in tertiary education, young job hunters, young workers and employers.

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