1 Out of 10 Malaysian Youths are Unemployed

The Sun Daily reported that 13.2% of Malaysian youths were unemployed. According to an economic report produced by the Ministry of Finance, the reasons for the high youth unemployment percentage are insufficient skills or education to compete in the labour market and lack of job experience.

Unemployment Statistics

Last year, 4.63 million out of 28.74 million Malaysians were unemployed, which means the total unemployment percentage was at 3.7%. A 2014 survey by World Bank and Talent Corp said that 90% companies preferred graduates with industrial training while only less than 10% of companies had the experience for developing curricula or programmes with universities.

Companies were encouraged by the government to assist graduates to enhance their hard and soft skills via on the job training. As of August 31, 539 companies are working closely with the Education Ministry to improve graduate employability while 125,986 graduates have been assisted through programmes.

Communication skills was seen as the most sought after skill in job application. Skills mismatch is also attributed to the high youth unemployment rate, as many vacancies in the labour market was for low and semi-skilled jobs which are not preferred and unsuitable for fresh graduates.

95.3% of the 1.4 million total job vacancies in 2017 were for low skilled and semi-skilled jobs. Only 4.7% or 64,402 vacancies were for skilled jobs with tertiary education.

"The government will intervene and enhance partnership with all relevant stakeholders to address these gaps. Some of the interventions include identifying skills needed by the industries, mainstreaming technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reducing dependency on foreign workers and cultivation of entrepreneurship in Malaysia," the report says.

Unemployment Across Different Backgrounds

Only 1.7% non-Malaysian citizens living in Malaysia were unemployed. On an ethnic standpoint, 4% or 3.36 million Bumiputeras were unemployed, followed by 771,000 (2.4%) Chinese, 433,000 (4.7%) Indians and 68,000 (6.6%) others.

Compared to male population, the female population recorded a higher unemployment rate.The unemployment rate for females was higher than males at 3.8% showing that females are more inclined to exit and re-enter the workforce due to family related needs.

Generally, employers have expressed preference towards hiring males because of higher commitment to long working hours (46.5 hours) compared to females (43.9 hours). From an ethnic standpoint,  Chinese and others recorded higher employment among women, while Bumiputera and Indian females saw higher unemployment rates.

Not a New Problem

High youth unemployment is not a new issue, according to The Star. One of the main reasons is the slower hiring compared to the number of job seekers. Cautious business sentiments and a moderate economic performance are restraining businesses from expanding their workforce.

Unemployment among youths will result in serious long-term negative effects if left unchecked. A generation of economically marginalised youth will be forced to compete with more self-reliant economic arrangements and even more job displacements.  There is also a strong risk of brain drain. 

The alarming rise of youth unemployment makes it even more difficult for the government to reduce nation's unemployment problem.

Be a part of the solution today by hiring at AJobThing especially interns on Internsheeps where more than 60,000 youths are searching for opportunities.