THE GRADUATES STATISTICS 2019, released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) earlier today, revealed an increase in the number of employed graduates by 6.9% to 4.25 million persons.
“Of the total employed graduates, males accounted for 49.8% (2,114.1 thousand persons) while 50.2% comprised females (2,132.6 thousand persons),” the department revealed in a media statement.
It defined graduates as individuals with the highest certificate from universities, colleges, polytechnics, recognised bodies or equivalent, where duration of study is at least two years.
According to national chief statistician Dato’ Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, “The total number of graduates in Malaysia accounted for 5.29 million persons and encompassed 21.3% of the working-age population in 2019. A total of 83.5% (4.4 million persons) of graduates were part of the labour force. Even though a majority of graduates were female, the labour force participation rate for female graduates was reported lower (79.8%) than male graduates, which recorded 87.7%.”
Below are other interesting revelations gleaned from the report.
* Employed graduates in skilled jobs - 73.3% (3.11 million persons).
* Employed graduates in semi-skilled jobs - 25.6% (1.09 million persons).
* Majority employed in services sector 79.6% (3.38 million persons).
* Unemployment rate remained at 3.9% with 170,300 unemployed graduates.
* 74.8% of these unemployed grads were actively seeking work.
* Of these, more than 80% were unemployed for less than six months.
* 8.1% were unemployed for more than 12 months.
* The number of grads outside the labour force increased by 7.6% and comprised 16.5% of the total amount of graduates.
* Housework and family responsibilities were the main reasons.
Meanwhile, DOSM’s Salaries & Wages Survey 2019 revealed that median monthly salaries and wages of graduates with full-time equivalent principal occupation was RM4,371 (2018: RM3,936). Employed graduates in skilled categories earned RM5,175 while semi-skilled category grad employees received RM2,300.
“In regard to skilled jobs which ought to be filled by graduates, the Quarterly Employment Statistics reported that the rate of vacancies for skilled jobs within formal private sector establishments in 2019 was 2.3% with 48.3 thousand job vacancies. This is very much lower as against the number of graduates produced annually which was in the range of 300,000 persons. Thus, among the alternative pathways which can be explored, to support the number of new graduates entering the labour market could be through entrepreneurship by leveraging the continuous revolution of digital platforms,” said Mohd Uzir.
