KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputra women and job seekers in rural areas show the strongest preference to work as civil servants in the public sector which offers job security, good promotion prospects and sufficient pay which attract them, according to a report.
The preference for young job seekers aged between the age of 15 to 29 years to work as employees particularly for the government and as professionals is relatively high as the material rewards provided security by the government.
According to Khazanah Research Institute’s report themed `School To Work Transition Survey Report’ only a fifth of all job seekers preferred to be self-employed by starting their own company or freelancing in the gig economy.
The report was launched by Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan today.
On the other side, the young Chinese job seekers distinctly chose not to be in the public sector as they preferred to start their own company or work for a local company.
“Due to a robust job environment, more Malaysians prefer to be employees rather than to have their own business and entrepreneurship is less of a career choice in countries like Malaysia and Singapore as compared to other Asean countries where job opportunities tend to be more limited,“ the report said.
Besides that, youth job seekers among Chinese and Bumiputras are most optimistic about internet-linked employment opportunities where mobile internet connectivity, social media and other transaction platforms and modern technology offer greater and flexible opportunities for IT-related jobs.
Job security is one of the most important factors amongst youth job seekers who feel that the most important characteristic must be stability and security rather than work-life balance, how interesting a job is or how well remunerated they will be.
“Chinese pattern tends to prefer the job to be interesting and is focused on income rather than security while Indians are much less concerned about work-life balance as opposed to having a secure and interesting job,“ the report cited.
Bumiputras and other young job seekers identify Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) requirement to get a good job. On the other hand, the Chinese and Indian job seekers feel that professional qualification is most useful when applying for a good job.
Among the status of young job seekers search process, Indian and others by ethnicity made up the total of 38% entering the job market as freshies for the first time, while 36% had previously worked but are currently unemployed and the remaining 26 % are currently employed but actively looking for another job.
“As would be expected, more than half of those between 15 and 19 years of age are first-time job seekers as compared to one-fifth of those 25 to 29 years of age.
“On the other hand, the proportion currently unemployed but looking for other work rises with age,“ the report said. — Bernama
