Graduate unemployment will drop to 4.1% in 2021.
According to data issued today by the Statistics Department (DOSM), the percentage of unemployed graduates decreased to 4.1% in 2021 while 33.9% of graduates were underemployed in jobs requiring specific skills.
According to the Graduates Statistics 2021, which was cited by Malaysia’s Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin, 5.61 million people in Malaysia graduated last year, making up 22.1% of the country’s population of people who are at least 15 years old and employed.
Graduates are those who have earned the highest degree from a university, college, polytechnic institute, or other recognised institution after completing at least two years of study.
According to Mohd Uzir, 34.9% of graduates were employed in semi-skilled occupations, primarily as clerical support workers (14.4%), followed by service and sales employees (10.8%), craft and allied trades workers (4.2%), and low-skilled workers (2.3%).
The public health crisis, which required the imposition of numerous social and economic limitations, entered its second year in the country, but structural labour market issues persisted as seen by the ongoing rise in underemployment.
As a result of accepting positions that did not match their qualifications, the number of graduates experiencing skills-related underemployment increased by 14.4% in 2021, and the rate of such underemployment among graduates also increased significantly, rising by 2.7 percentage points to 33.9% from 31.24% in 2020.
He stated that, from the standpoint of the economic sector, 77.4% of graduates were employed in the services industry, followed by 13.7% in manufacturing and 6% in construction.
Graduates earned higher salaries and wages in 2021 compared to the year before, with the mean monthly salary and wage increasing by 2.1% to RM4,582 (2020: RM4,489).
