Malaysia Will See 116,000 Fresh Graduates Without A Job This Year

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) said 75,000 out of 300,000 fresh graduates are expected to be unemployed this year due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

Speaking during an event yesterday, 28 September, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad said the estimation is based on last year’s unemployment figures among fresh graduates, reported Malay Mail.

According to her, 41,161 out of 330,557 graduates from last year are still unemployed.

With the addition of 75,000 from this year, the total unemployment among the group will add up to a whopping 116,161 people.

Noraini added that the unemployment rate among fresh graduates this year is projected to be at 25%

In comparison to last year, it is a jump from 13.8%.

Last year, 189,543 out of 330,557 graduates managed to get a job six months after they graduated.

However, despite the bleak outlook, Noraini said her ministry is aiming to assist some 20,000 graduates under a new initiative

MOHE has devised a new scheme using the RM100 million fund allocated under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA).

The scheme, named the Graduates Reference Hub for Employment and Training (GREaT), will offer services such as jobs matching, reskilling, and upskilling programmes, as well as grants for further education, among others, reported Bernama.

A total of 100 separate firms will help 20,000 fresh graduates under the initiative, with 140 individual programmes available. Says