4.

0 Conclusion
Unemployment in Malaysia is becoming increasingly serious. Every year many students have
graduated from institutions of higher learning either in public or private institutions. A lot of
competition for jobs in causing high unemployment. Lack of employment factors there is also a
source of unemployment. Competition that exists is there in getting employment in government and
private sector. Many graduates more interested in public and private sector to the government
because they consider is more efficient and secure the future. Therefore, the parties must take
iniasitif particular problem in this competition. Parties also need to establish various new sectors and
career seminars in combat unemployment. Leavers, public and private institutions should enter into
new areas such as participation in the agricultural sector, small and medium industries and other
businesses. Of entering new sectors, the unemployment rate will be reduced and this sector can
improve the economy. Students also should be concerned because this aspect of students' attitudes
to choose jobs that are too causing unemployment. With the lack of experience in employment,
students should not choose the job because this will only disadvantage. If there are job-related
seminars or courses, students should take part because it helps to know the various features in
pekerjaan.Dengan various aspects of this, the unemployment rate can be overcome and each
student can take advantage of what has been learned to work in each ceburi.

Posted by Unemployment become a serious problem in Malaysiaat 12:00 AM2 comments:

Saturday, October 31, 2009

3.0 Solution unemployment in Malaysia

3.1 Changing the mindset of graduates

The readiness of our youth and young professionals to search for opportunities overseas posed the
third challenge. There is a need for institutional changes of mindset to overcome the fundamental
problems of quality rather than quantity and to change the mindset of the locals for the need to
work harder, to get out of their comfort zone and not be content to allow future generations to
work in the present environment while the world is moving at a faster pace. It was recommended
that a strategic approach be adopted to promote a change of mindset, more demonstration of needs
more than wants in order to build quality professionals.
Current economic issues faced by the nation are on the escalating prices of essential goods, building
materials, petrol, diesel, gas and electricity tariff. With this price increases the effects on the
Malaysian economy is a rise in the consumer price index which hit a 26-year high in August 2008.
Inevitably there is rise in inflation and slowdown in output growth even though exports are still not
affect at the moment. There is pressure on wages with MTUCs
call for minimum wages of RM900 per month and a cost of living allowance of RM300 per month.
However, this can only be viable if productivity is increased and there is a reduction in number of
foreign worker in the country. The government has put in cost cutting measures by cutting down on
mega projects, expenditures related to entertainment, overseas travel and cabinet allowance to
counter the impact of these issues. Even though Malaysia still has full employment, it is expected
that there will be an increase in unemployment rate, retrenchment or voluntary separation and
closure of businesses. MEF did a survey on the impact of the increase in fuel prices and found that it
resulted in increases in overall operating cost, human resource and labor cost, cost of raw materials,
cost of transport related services as well as cost of products and services. In order to cope with the
challenges of rising prices, it was suggested that individuals will have to make necessary adjustment
to their lifestyle and implement Green Book policy where possible. Private sector employers can
cut down unnecessary expenses while employees in order to remain employed must possess multi-
skills and the ability to adjust quickly.
Ideologically, we need to be more ambitious as a nation. Only ambition can break the cycle of
inevitable failure. We have a strong basis for growth and could become a cutting-edge, sustainable,
technology-led economy. There is no sound reason to accept the status quo, nor to believe we
cannot, in the medium-term, aim significantly higher. Their minds start to rot, intellectual growth is
suppressed, and the end result; they hit rock bottom in the real world. Groping in the dark, they try
to find a way out, but to no avail. Thereafter, enlightenment ensues, a harsh realization, that the
scroll in their hands is merely that, a scroll. On the other hand, the introduction of a compulsory soft
skills course serves only to magnify the deficiencies of our education system. Students have
forgotten how to interact, how to communicate, and how to ace that interview, to the extent that
such drastic measure has to be taken. While this solves the problem on the surface, it effectively
sweeps the bigger chunk of it under the carpet. Undergraduates cannot be expected to learn the art
of eloquence and to gain self confidence overnight. It takes more than a course to create the
wholesome undergraduate. More importantly, undergraduates must be provided with room and
space for holistic growth. Intellectual discussions, debates and forums on any topic at all should be
encouraged and the underlying fear that students will rebel, retaliate or even form extremist groups,
I would like to state, is unfounded. As adults, they should be respected as such, which means also to
be given inter alia, the right to freedom of expression. What is right or wrong is not the point. The
focal point is, undergraduates must be allowed to think, to express themselves, and to dissent if they
want to. Keep pushing them around, and what do you get? A bunch of pushovers in society. The
bottom line is this. Whether or not an undergraduate will ever be ready to face the real world is
essentially a matter of choice. Choose to maintain your status quo, you continue in your temporary
bubble in Neverland, waiting for the real world to come crashing through. Choose to free your
mind from the fetters of tradition for traditions sake, and to move out of your comfort zone, you
embark on a journey with nothing guaranteed, except unfamiliarity.

3.2 Education Collaboratin for Sustainable Development

The objectives were to promote and strengthen industry-education collaboration so as to develop a

common understanding of the industrys needs and how polytechnics and community colleges can
fulfill those needs for the national as well as the international market. Education institutions were
urged to prepare students who are able to meet job market requirements immediately. Four
challenges were posed for graduates the need for sufficient qualifications and experience; to be
multi skilled and adaptable to changing glocal environment and circumstances; to be prepared and
ready to search for opportunities overseas and lastly to have the confidence to succeed in foreign
countries. In order to meet these challenges call for the change of mindset from the institutions and
graduates with benching with the worlds best and international accreditation and getting out of the
comfort zone. In the Question and Answer session, issues on skills in human management,
enhancing the status of sub-professionals, international exposure for students and graduates,
preparation of students for the international market jointly with the industry, career guidance
programmes to smoothen the transition of school-to-work, placement units in institutions to
facilitate employment, advice from professional bodies on benchmarking and international
standards which can facilitate student and graduate mobility, embedding multi-skills and
multidisciplines into the curriculum, setting up of preferred polytechnics, guest lecturers from the
industry, the need for mastery in foreign languages so as to be competitive on the international
front, the need to import of skilled craftsmen to train our locals and training for wet trades to reduce
dependency on foreign workers. Participants from the industry were surveyed on their readiness to
collaborate in DPCCEs programmes. The results were very encouraging. 36 respondents out 42
indicated their interest to collaborate in different areas. More than 70% of these respondents wish
to take in students for training, share their expertise in curriculum development as well as be guest
lecturers in the institutions. More than 60% are willing to giving career talks, presenting papers, be
an advisory committee member of an institution and take part in work based learning programmes.
58.3% of the respondents are willing to take in lecturers for internship at their organizations.
The objectives were to promote and strengthen industry-education collaboration so as to develop a
common understanding of the industrys needs and how polytechnics and community colleges can
fulfill those needs for the national as well as the international market. To meet the requirements of
the industries, DPCCEs institutions are embarking on a new concept of Finishing Schools to train
and prepare its final semester students as well as unemployed graduates with industry-specific
knowledge, skills and competencies to facilitate and improve their employability. Career guidance
programs are also being strengthened at the institutions to ease the institution-to-work transition
and ensure graduates are in jobs that will best use them. Complementary models such as life-long
learning are also being developed to enable workers to be able to access and continually update
their skills and knowledge for job mobility up the human capital chain as well as personal skill
development. Industry must play a collaborative and supportive role towards the planning and
implementation of the above action plans. Input is essential for the identification of the skill sets,
competencies and soft skills needed for the graduates to be relevant in the job market. Industry can
also play a role in career guidance and support the students industrial training and lecturers
attachment to the industry. Education institutions should prepare students who meet job market
requirements in terms of hands-on knowledge and relevant skills as companies are not keen to train
new employees. The graduates need to be able to start to contribute immediately as at present it
takes two years before fresh graduates can start to contribute to the organization. The Ministry of
Higher Education and Ministry of Education can work together with the industry on career guidance
and training in preparing students for the job market.
Four challenges were put forward on how to develop talent for international ventures. The first
challenge posed was on the professional capabilities of our graduates. Irrespective of whether the
graduates are blue collar or white collar professionals, one needs to have sufficient
qualifications and experience, especially internationally recognized qualifications and specialized
skills and related experience before venturing on the international stage. Polytechnics and
community colleges need to offer these specialized training as basic generic skills are no longer
adequate. Being multi skilled and adaptable to changing glocal environment and circumstances is
the second challenge faced by our graduates. Environment and circumstances in different countries
are not necessary the same as conditions in Malaysia. Therefore what we train our graduates locally
may not be immediately exportable. As we develop our human capital, we must bear in mind and
recognize the need to benchmark internally but also to understand that different parts of the world
need different skill sets and technologies.

3.3 Enhancement In Soft Skills And Retraining Program

During the Eighth Plan period, the economy maintained full employment and recorded growth in
labour productivity. Employment expanded in line with economic growth, which was mainly
contributed by the services and manufacturing sectors. The quality of the labour force improved
with the increasing supply of educated and skilled human resource. Various initiatives were
undertaken including the implementation of several training and retraining programmes to reduce
skills mismatch and enhance the employability of labour, particularly graduates. Likewise,
entrepreneurial skills have been incorporated in order to enhance entrepreneurship focus, as
students will require general business skills in addition to technical skills. A Graduate Enhancement
Scheme is also in the pipeline, targeted at all higher education graduates. Through this scheme, the
graduates will get an opportunity to hone their entrepreneur skills as well as acquire and reinforce
industryspecific knowledge, skills and competencies. It was highlighted that joint certification
training programs can further enhance the employability of our graduates. Employing graduates
with a strong desire to learn is more important than taking in the best graduates. The bridging from
school to the working world is very important. Teaching the basics of MS Office and communication
skills are essential for this transition. The main challenge facing graduates is their inability to
articulate a line of thought, regardless of language. There is a need to put in place a programme
where thinking and communication skills, are taught, irrespective of discipline. Special
programmes/action plans, in line with market needs, must be designed to enable Malaysians
competitive on the international front. Language skill is important as a marketing tool in any export
market, for example, Arabic in the Middle East market and English in European markets. There is a
need to change the mindset of the younger generation to be proficient in foreign languages. We
should not be misguided by national pride to refrain from learning other languages.
The capacity and capability of public training institutions will be strengthened to meet the training
needs of public sector employees. Existing training programmes will be continued and new
programmes will be offered with special emphasis on values and ethics. Towards this end, Institut
Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) will expand their training programmes to include courses such as
developing high performance employees, customer services and Islamic finance. To facilitate the
development of lifelong learning among civil servants, INTAN will lead the implementation of e-
learning initiatives based on the Public Sector e-Learning Blueprint. To further enhance the
management skills and professionalism of education personnel, Institut Aminuddin Baki will intensify
its training efforts. Training in specialised areas such as customs, safety and security, health,
property evaluation, diplomatic relations, and professional and technical fields will continue to be
provided by the respective training institutions. These institutions include Akademi Kastam DiRaja
Malaysia, Akademi Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia, Akademi Imigresen Malaysia, Institut
Kesihatan Umum, Institut Penilaian Negara, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations and the
IKRAM Training and Infrastructure Development Institute. Private training institutions will continue
to provide management and other specialised training to meet the demand for highly competent
managers to ensure industries become more resilient and competitive in the global market. In this
regard, institutions like the Malaysian Institute of Management, Institute of Bankers, FMM Institute
of Manufacturing and Malaysia Institute of Human Resource Management will be encouraged to
expand and strengthen their training programmes. The National Productivity Corporation will also
expand their training capacity. During the Plan period, the entrepreneurial training programmes will
be intensified to promote greater self-reliance and competitiveness, particularly among Bumiputera
entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial training will be expanded, among others, by increasing the capacity
of the Institut Keusahawanan Negara. As a coordinating agency for entrepreneurial training, the
institute will enhance the quality of and standardise the entrepreneurial training programmes. The
training programmes will also emphasise positive values and ethics. In addition, programmes will be
undertaken to change the perception of society, particularly school leavers and graduates, on self-
employment. To encourage and facilitate school leavers and graduates in self-employment and
foster entrepreneurship, integrated information on self-employment will be provided. During the
Plan period, with the greater focus on agricultural development, agricultural agencies will expand
their retraining and skills upgrading programmes for farmers and entrepreneurs as well as their
employees. The existing training programmes offered by various agricultural agencies will be
reviewed with the objective, among others, to strengthen commercialisation and management skills,
improve environmental management as well as place greater emphasis on ethics and positive
values. To intensify and strengthen the provision of training in agricultural-related areas, agricultural
training institutions will offer part-time training programmes and conduct short-courses. Towards
this end, training needs analysis will be conducted to measure the skills gap as well as identify the
types and level of skills required in the agriculture sector.
Increasing Accessibility. Access to industrial skills training will be increased to expand the supply of
highly skilled human resource, particularly at diploma and advanced diploma levels. The capacity of
advanced training institutions will be expanded and upgraded and training programmes will be
redesigned to meet the increasing demand for skilled workers with entrepreneurial skills. Private
training providers will continue to complement Government efforts through the provision of quality
training. Quality Improvement. The quality of industrial skills training will be enhanced through
accelerating the development of market-driven curriculum, which is based on the new NOSS,
strengthening collaboration with industry, improving the quality of instructors, reviewing the
accreditation procedure of the training providers and assessment method for trainees and
expanding the application of e-learning. In addition, to improve the planning, designing and
implementation of training programmes, the management information system in training agencies
will be strengthened and the National Advisory Council on Education and Training will be
established.

Posted by Unemployment become a serious problem in Malaysiaat 11:58 PMNo comments:

2.0 Causes unemployment in Malaysia

2.1 Lack of experience

Nowadays, the employer will find the worker who had a lot of experienced one compared to the one
without experience. Lack of experience and skills are also causes of graduate unemployment.
Generally, most organizations prefer to employ graduates with experience. Furthermore, in
Malaysia, the private sector today is not interested in recruiting local graduates because they lack
essential skills, such as proficieny in English and interpersonal skills (Nor Hartini, 2007). There
appears to be a disparity between what employers require and what skills graduates have. In view of
this, the government has implemented several measures to reduce the problem of graduate
unemployment. One such measure is the introduction of several Training programmes for fresh
graduates. For instance, the Ministry Of Human Resources, through their training agencies, has
introduced the 'Unemployed Graduates Training Scheme' in order to equip graduates with certain
skills and experience (Chapman, Chew& Tan,2007). The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Ministry, likewise, has initiated a programme where established retailers have started recruiting
graduate and diploma holders as management trainees. This scheme aims to not only provide
employment opportunities for fresh graduate but also to expose them to fields in the private sector
other than the ones they specialized in (Chin, 2007).
Another measure involves a review of the tertiary education system. Soft skill Development should
be incorporated into the education curriculum where students can participate in extra curricular
activities to enhance soft skills such as personal qualities, interpersonal skills and, critical and
creative thinking (Nor Hartini, 2007). These soft skills should be acquired through participation in
extra curricular activities while they are studying for their degrees. A lecturer, for instance, can
develop students' skills and knowledge by stimulating their minds with discussions and case studies.
According to Nor Hartini, these skills will enable them to communicate effectively, manage
relationships, lead team, solve problems and succeed in the job market. Thus, it is evident that lack
of skills and experience are the main causes for graduate unemployment. To overcome this problem,
the Ministry of Higher Education must ensure that the tertiary education system is relevant and up-
to-date. It should continually evaluate the tertiary programs to help produce quality graduates who
meet the needs of industries. Also industries need to play their part by providing more opportunities
for training fresh graduates while the graduates themselves need to be more open and take up
these offers.

2.2 Lack of social and communication skill

Many employers cited lack of necessary communication skills, poor command of English and lack of
confidence during interviews had led to increasing number of unemployed graduates. Don said
communication skills and language proficiency were best acquired through constant practice.
According to the Minister of Human Resources, more than 65% of female graduates in this country
are employed because they lack social and communication skills in addition to a poor command of
language and low levels of self confidence. He added that many female graduates had achieved
excellent academic results but could not secure employment without the relevant skills required in
the labor market. The number of unemployed female graduates is also much higher in comparison
male graduates (The Star, 2005). It has been assumed that the lack of experience and skills are the
causes leading to the unemployment of graduate's. In Malaysia, the private sector today is not
interested in recruiting local graduates because they lack several important skills, such as the
capacity to communicate well in English, a lack of ICT proficiency, and a lack of interpersonal skills.
This scenario reveals that, there is a skills gap between what skills are required by employers and
what skills graduates have. Suitable degree programs are not the only mechanisms for developing
work skills in higher education. Students are encouraged to take part in extra curricular activities
which may assist them in developing soft skills. It is important for a student to begin accumulating as
much work related experience (soft skills) as early as they can. Soft skills are generally categorized
into three areas; character, interpersonal skill and critical and creative thinking. These skills enable
one to communicate effectively, manage relationships, lead a team, and solve problems. Soft skill
development should be inculcated into the education syllabus. It is important to teach soft skills
required to survive and succeed in the work market.
According to the Dearing Report (NCIHE, 1997) the primary purpose of higher education is to
prepare students for the world of work. Graduates need to be given opportunities to develop
generic attributes besides disciplinary knowledge. Generic attributes include communication skills,
problem-solving skills, computer literacy, information literacy, ability and willingness to learn, and
teamwork. Previous research conducted on graduate employment addressed generic competencies
as skills, abilities and attributes that complement the field of specialization of employees for work
performance (Day, 1988; Sandberg, 1991; Sohal, 1997; & Mitchell, 2003 cited in Quek, 2005). It was
noted that employers prefer workers who had generic competencies like interpersonal skills, and
leadership skills, teamwork, oral and written skills (Lee et al, 2001, cited in Quek, 2005). Most
academia in Malaysia feel that the education system is only concerned with results. These are the
processes in Teaching and Learning, and part of the process is the way the assessment strategies are
designed and whether the instructional strategies and the students learning experience compensate
with what the course is designed for. It was again reported that there were plenty of jobs but many
graduates cannot fit into the positions because they lacked the necessary skills (language and
communication skills) that their prospective employers were looking for. This view is supported by
the Higher Education Ministry of Malaysia (HEMM), that unemployment among graduates is due to
the lack of generic competencies in undergraduates program; there was lack of application of
classroom learning in the tertiary education to the workplace performance. In a research conducted
by McHardy and Henderson (1994), a knowledge/skills matrix was develop to facilitate the gap that
might occur in the transition of knowledge and skills during which the students are undergoing their
process of learning. The matrix has helped educators to see the changes that need to be made to the
pedagogic technique (lectures, presentation, and tutorial activities). The integration of creativity into
business education aids students in preparing for the creative workplace environments that are
becoming more common as organizations seek to develop creative competencies as one of their few
sustainable competitive advantages in todays marketplace (Driver, 2001). A degree alone is not
enough to succeed in todays competitive job market. In a survey reported by the BBC, four out of 10
large employers in the United Kingdom struggled to fill graduate vacancies because of a shortage of
applicants with the right skills. Another study done by Monash University in Australia, showed that
more than one-third of foreign students graduated from Australian universities had very poor
English skills (Azizan, 2007). According to the study, all graduates tested had enough command of
the language to cope with most situations but were still not capable of conducting a sophisticated
discourse at a professional level The study reported that 23.5% of students from Malaysia did not
meet the required English standard.

2.3 Education in Malaysia. Choosing the wrong course and the poor result

In a Malay Mail article yesterday, it was highlighted that a substantial portion of the registered
66,000 unemployed graduates are from some of the most popular courses. Business administration,
computer and information technology, and engineering are the most sought-after courses by many
school leavers. This has resulted in a high number of unemployment among graduates from these
disciplines 19,900 business administration graduates, 9,500 from computer and information
technology, and 7,500 engineering graduates. While it may not have been intended, the article may
have inadvertently sent the message to prospective university students that the above courses are
to be avoided due to low demand for their skills post-graduation. I'd like to state that this will
probably be a wrong "read" of the above statistics.
First of all, while the number of graduates unemployed from these courses are the highest, the
article did not give any statistics on proportion of candidates from each of these faculties are
unemployed. This information will be key, as given that the above courses are the largest faculties in
the universities in Malaysia (or even inclusive of overseas universities), then obviously the likelihood
will be the absolute numbers of unemployed from these faculties will be largest is very high. For e.g.,
the number of students taking B. Sc. Chemistry probably do not exceed 2,000 students in the entire
Malaysia per annum, and will hence never make it to the top unemployed list, even *if* possibly up
to 50% of them remain unemployed.
Secondly, a point which I will further comment in subsequent blog entries, many of the students of
these courses, particularly those in IT and Engineering should not have "qualified" for these courses
in the first place. It is my opinion that many of the students from STPM/SPM who have been
accepted into these courses in the Malaysian universities, should never have qualified for these
courses in the first place. The entry level of the courses in some of the local universities has been set
so low, that these poor students will never have a chance to perform credibly in these courses -
resulting in their unemployment status. For e.g., I've seen many many graduates will very poor
results in Mathematics (and Additional Mathematics) in SPM/STPM but qualified for these courses.
With a poor foundation in Mathematics, it would have been better for these candidates to have
taken other courses which they may have performed better. Without giving undue disrespect to the
weaker candidates, if you don't have at least a B4 for your additional mathematics for SPM, avoid
Engineering or Computer Science courses! In Singapore, the requirements are even higher with
candidates accepted into these courses only if they have a minimum "B" grade for the Further
Mathematics in 'A' Levels.
Further to the second point above, the courses in Computer Science and Engineering in many of the
local universities are already very lacking in academic rigour. With a large number of candidates
graduating with CGPAs below 3.0, it is unsurprising that this lot becomes "unemployable" in the
Malaysian private sector. The bottomline is, students should pick courses based on their capabilities
and not based on what's apparently "in-demand" out there (e.g., IT courses). If you are not cut out
for IT or Engineering, putting yourselves through the courses is not going to make you more
employable in the IT or Engineering markets. I can testify that there is a shortage of IT candidates in
Malaysia, and we need more capable IT staff. However, that does not mean that we'll employ
anybody who receives a piece of degree paper (no matter how bad his grades are abilities are).
I've just completed yesterday, a job interview with a candidate with a degree in Multimedia from a
local private university. From a fairly candid discussion with regards to the degree course content
and the candidates job prospects, it has encouraged me to write about an issue that has been on my
mind for a while - the "neither here nor there" degree courses. To give a bit of background, in the
internet and multimedia industry today, there are typically 2 types of candidates employers are
looking for - (1) the computer programmer (obviously) and (2) the graphic/multimedia designer (to
design the various interactive screens, animated sequences etc.). The Bachelors degree in
Multimedia is not the only such course around which is weak and often do not meet the demands of
the IT employers. There are now plenty of fanciful IT courses with trendy names hoping to attract
students into these faculties - a commercial ploy by many of these colleges. Some of the courses
which I find are particularly weak and are "neither here nor there" would be degrees in "e-
commerce", "internet technology", "multimedia application management" etc. What makes the
situation worse is many students specifically choose some of the above subjects because they are
known to be less academically rigourous, and hence providing them with an easier path to a degree
in IT or computer science. Unfortunately, there is a lack of objective information evaluated by
independent parties on the usefulness of these courses in the job market. Students are therefore
advised to consider very carefully the courses to choose to subscribe to in university as a supposedly
minor difference between "multimedia" and "computer science" will actually result in vastly
different outcomes subsequent job placement and future career options. The government for
obvious reasons will not be able to discriminate between the better or poorer graduates in terms of
qualifications. Hence as a result, easily employable first class honours graduates will still qualify for
the scheme (should the employers be aware of the scheme in the first place). As a result, part of the
subsidy is basically "wasted" on graduates who may have otherwise found easy employment
irrespective of whether the subsidy was available. However, there being no statistics or studies
provided to show the quality of candidates who have managed to find work with the scheme - it'll be
difficult to measure its actual effectiveness. As an employer myself, I'm more than happy for the
scheme to continue because I will be able to obtain subsidy for candidates whom I would have hired
anyway. As part of the scheme however, the government should first engage qualified consultants to
conduct seminars to assist these graduates improve their employability. This tasnk should actually
be that of our universities, but unfortunately they have not been able to fulfil their role in this. The
very first step to gaining employment is to have a decent resume which will "open the door" to an
interview with the prospective employers. This is a case of the graduates not being serious in the job
application process. The process today is now so convenient via emails and internet recruitment
sites, they no longer pay serious attention to detail and no longer attempt to review their resume
and application. They just "rush" to complete and submit the application without giving thought to
the fact that submitting a hastily completed application and poorly formed resume is not going to
increase the chances of employment by much.

Posted by Unemployment become a serious problem in Malaysiaat 11:57 PM1 comment:

1.0 Introduction
Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without
work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is
defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed. Nearly 60,000 Malaysian
graduates are unemployed, a government survey has revealed. It also confirmed what has long been
known: Most of the unemployed are Malays from lower-income families who lack command of the
English language. Also, their qualifications are mostly not in demand. These results emerged recently
from a project initiated by the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department, where
the unemployed were asked to sign up for jobs. The project was initiated to gauge the extent of the
problem and to enable the government to fine-tune its job creation policies. As many as 59,250
graduates signed up, a New Straits Times report said. Many of the participants were Malays with
degrees in business studies or information technology from public universities, where courses are
taught in Malay. Earlier estimates had put the number of jobless in the country at between 18,000
and 82,000. The latest results also showed that 71 percent of the unemployed were female, 61
percent were from poor families, and 80 percent were educated with government loans from the
National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN). Those surveyed cited the lack of job experience, poor
command of the English language with inadequate communication skills, and the possession of
qualifications that are not relevant to the job market as reasons for not being able to find suitable
employment. Most have been jobless for more than a year, Malaysias Human Resources Minister
Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn was quoted as saying. The results have led to some introspection. There
are concerns that there could be many more degree-holders on the list of 400,000 individuals who
are currently unemployed. The results of the survey will also likely give a boost to the government's
ongoing efforts to promote English usage in schools and to encourage Malays to take up relevant
degree courses. "We have highly qualified graduates coming here who cannot construct a proper
sentence in English. They lack confidence and it is not difficult to imagine why they are jobless,"
Geraldine Fernandes, the operator of a private college, told The Straits Times. Over the past two
years, colleges and schools like the one run by her have been helping to retrain unemployed
graduates to make them more marketable. The Human Resources Ministry had spent up to RM100
million (about C$31.3 million) during the past few years on such programs. A recent survey found
that Universiti Malaya, the country's premier university, has slipped in the rankings. From being
among the top 100 universities in the world, it is now ranked below 150. The government has taken
steps to address falling standards in universities and schools, by gradually re-introducing the use of
English in schools. The language is now being used to teach science and mathematics in primary
schools. Eventually, English could replace Malay as the language of instruction for these two
subjects, right up to tertiary level.
1.1 Statistic unemployment in Malaysia
In the Malaysia Economic Report 2008, you can see the workforce statistics for Malaysia
employment between the year 2003 and year 2007. The statistics are divided into different sectors
and industries, where you can see the number of the workforce, as well as percentage of growth (or
reduction) as compared to the previous years. Manufacturing sector has shown to be one of the
most important backbones of the Malaysia economy, even though the trend of growth has been
steadily declining. The global competitiveness of the industry has driven many multinational
companies to look for other alternative manufacturing avenues, particularly China. Perhaps, it is just
true that some Free Trade Industrial Zones in Malaysia are facing extinction in the next years to
come. The Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Fishing, combined together, have been showing some
worrying trend, with less and less number of people making up the industry as the years go by. This
is not a good sign, especially considering the country which is rich with its agriculture and forestry
resources. For the last 10 years, Malaysia has been the biggest exporter of palm oil and a few other
agricultural products and if this is to be maintained, something needs to be done. The merger of
Golden Hope, Guthrie and Sime Darby hopefully will be able to revive the industry and return it to its
glory days. The Government sector includes those in the public administration, health, education
and defense. Clearly, from the growth chart, this is the most steady sector with very much linear
growth for the past 3 years. However, with the new salary revision for public service employees, the
competition to enter the public sector employment will be even more competitive and challenging.
Gaining employment in the government sector is definitely the one that will frustrate job seekers the
most. The combination of Finance, Insurance, Real Estates and Business Services with the Other
Services (8) will show us that the services sector is the most vibrant and highest growing industry at
the moment. It eclipses the manufacturing sector, which for many years have been dominating and
driving the economys growth engine. This is where you need to slot yourself in. The Construction
industry has been declining between 2004-2006 but came back with a bang in the year 2007. 2008
promises to be better yet with many gigantic projects, including the ECER (East Corridor Economic
Region), NCER (North Corridor Economic Region), IDC (Iskandar Development Corridor), SER (Sabah
Economic Corridor) and SCORE (Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy) developments set to take
places.
Statistic shown that most of the unemployed graduates are from IT-related fields, and breakdown of
the umemployment graduates are as follows:

Malay: 57,072 [96.33%]

Chinese: 1,027 [1.73%]
India: 1,007 [1.70%]
Others: 144 [0.24%]

Total: 59,250

1.2 Subject
1. Manufacturing
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 2.972mil 3.133mil 3.244mil 3.343mil
% growth (7.1) (5.4) (3.5) (3.0)
2. Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Fishing
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 1.413mil 1.401mil 1.392mil 1.378mil
% growth (-0.4) (-0.4) (-0.6) (-1.1)
3. Government (Civil service)
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 1.041mil 1.053mil 1.064mil 1.085mil
% growth (1.5) (1.1) (1.1) (1.1)
4. Finance, Insurance, Real Estates and Business Services
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 0.695mil 0.734mil 0.771mil 0.791mil
% growth (5.7) (5.7) (5.0) (2.6)
5. Construction
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 0.767mil 0.760mil 0.755mil 0.766mil
% growth (-0.9) (-1.0) (-0.6) (1.5)
6. Transport, Storage and Communication
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 0.594mil 0.630mil 0.646mil 0.662mil
% growth (8.3) (6.1) (2.5) (2.4)

7. Mining and Quarrying

Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 42.6k 42.7k 42.6k 42.9k
% growth (0.9) (0.2) (-0.3) (0.7)
8. Other Services
Other services include electricity, gas and water, wholesale and retail trade, hotels, restaurants and
other services.
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Employment workforce 2.943mil 3.138mil 3.234mil 3.334mil
% growth (4.8) (6.6) (3.4) (2.8)

Posted by Unemployment become a serious problem in Malaysiaat 11:55 PMNo comments:

Contents
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Statistic unemployment in Malaysia
1.2 Subject
2.0 Causes unemployment in Malaysia
2.1 Lack of experience
2.2 Lack of social and communication skill
2.3 Education in Malaysia. Choosing the wrong course and the poor result
3.0 Solution unemployment in Malaysia
3.1 Changing the mindset of graduates
3.2 Education Collaboratin for Sustainable Development
3.3 Enhancement In Soft Skills And Retraining Program
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Reference

Posted by Unemployment become a serious problem in Malaysiaat 11:54 PMNo comments:

UNEMPLOYMENT

UNEMPLOYMENT means total and continuous loss of full-time Employment as a result of:

(1) a permanent involuntary termination of employment; or

(2) an involuntary layoff or suspension of employment; or

(3) an authorized, unionized strike or labor dispute by a chartered or previously organized trade or
labor union; or

(4) a lockout, discharge of employees or temporary closing of business in response to organized

employee activity; or

(5) a state or federally declared disaster caused by a geological or weather-related natural event.
RELATED WEBSITE:

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/12/195216/malaysian-graduates-employability-rate-rises-772-
cent

https://www.bfm.my/bg-dato-seri-idris-jusoh-minister-of-higher-education-soaring-upwards-with-
higher-education.html

http://www.academia.edu/395104/Malaysia_higher_education_system_current_issues_challenges_
and_hopes

http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-news/8-realities-why-malaysian-government-should-fund-
higher-education-131278

https://www.malaysia-students.com/2015/01/challenges-of-education-sector-in-Malaysia.html

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/higher-education-system-should-change-to-
suit-younger-generation-minister-s#6odJOmpcEDY6lZtM.97

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274164494_Current_Trends_in_Malaysian_Higher_Educ
ation_and_the_Effect_on_Education_Policy_and_Practice_An_Overview

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815054233