Unemployment Among Graduates

Imagine you have just graduate and are now looking for a job. You send letters and emails to related company and even go to nearby company for walk in interview. Unfortunately, no respond from the letters and emails u sent. And every walk in interview failed. Now you are sitting on your chair and thinking, why I cannot get a job? How am I going to live? Am I going to rely on my parents again? Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Ooi Geok Thing and today, I am going to share about “Unemployment Among Graduates”. Ladies and gentlemen,

Unemployment is a situation when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work. According to the Department of Statistic, until September 2014, overall unemployment rate in Malaysia is 2.70% or 396.30 thousand people. The department also reported that the unemployment rate for local graduates amounted 47,913 in 2008, a rise to 60,000 in 2009 and the New Straits Times dated 17th March 2013 reported the unemployment rate was 65,500 in 2010. According to the Minister of Human Resources, the number of unemployment female graduates is much higher on comparison male graduates. The problem is, if the economy really requires a lot of talented workers, why graduates have trouble finding a job?” well, there are many factors that contribute to the unemployment among graduates such as mismatch between the focus of higher education institution and the needs of the industry. But today, I will only focus on the factors that related to graduates themselves.

Well, the main driver of graduates’ unemployment is the quality of graduates. Based on a survey done in 2010, there are employers in the industry, who gave negative comments on the graduates and mentioned that the graduates do not have the suitable skills and qualifications which meet the needs of the industry. This is because most graduates are having problems from the aspect of employability skills and technical skills. Employability skill is personal insight which includes problems in communication skill especially in English language, low self-confidence, do not have the leadership skills, problem solving skills, interaction skills, decision making skills and so on while problem in technical skills include mathematical skills, scientific or computer-related duties. Not only that, most of the graduates having problems in applying what they have learned at educational institutions with the working places especially technical skills.

Apart from that, graduates ‘attitude is also one of the factors that causes the unemployment. Most of the graduates are being very choosy. They prefer to work in an environment that provides conform and convenience such as in office with air conditional. They also prefer work that is easy and is not burdening. They want to have shorter time of working hours too. Plus, graduates request for unrealistic salary that employers are unwilling to offer. Besides that, graduates nowadays are not well-discipline. They are not puncture, lazy, lack of responsibility and many more. This is why these graduates are facing problem in getting a place at a working world, as they are not able to give full commitments to a work. Last but not least, in order to become a qualified employee in the work environment nowadays, graduates are required to have some work experience.

This is because of the competitiveness in the market labour due to the rapid increase of graduated workforce. So those graduates who have no experience will have least chance to get a job as employers felt that it will be easier for them to train graduates with experiences. Now let us see how to overcome the unemployment issues among graduates that causes from the problems stated. First of all, before graduate, students can enhance their skills and knowledge by actively participate in any kind of discussions and case studies. Students should also involve in clubs and societies during college time as they can expose themselves to the outside world and interact with outsider by organize activities. They can also enhance their critical thinking skills and team work spirit from that. So, students are encouraged to be active in class and also co-curriculum. For unemployed graduates, they should change their mind-set and attitudes.

They can get additional training to improve their English language skills, ICT skills, communication skills, entrepreneurial skills and many more. Unemployed graduates should also take the opportunity to participate in programmes held for them by Government and Non-government agency. For example, they can participate in the Graduate Career Accelerated Program (GCPA) which was held by the Government for free to improve the employability of unemployed graduates and English level of graduates. Lastly, graduates should gain some experience by do some part time job during college time and start to work from bottom. In conclusion, inability for Malaysia graduates to fulfil job vacancies in Malaysia resulting in the hiring of foreign workers is a regret. Graduates must be conscious that getting a good result does not ensure that they will be able to find a job. Graduates should have enough experiences, good attitudes and quality in term of employability skills and technical skills so that they will be employed and reduce the rate of unemployment among graduates. Till then, thank you for lending me your ears.