Graduates' skills, industry demands not matching: reports
The Malaysian government has announced that it is "working on aligning" fresh graduates' skills with industry needs amid an ongoing mismatch in the employment market, according to reports.
Human Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmun said last week that while there are many job opportunities in Malaysia, the qualifications of jobseekers are not matching the demands of the industry.
"So, we are working on aligning them through different initiatives," Mustapha said as quoted by Bernama.
He made the remarks while officiating the MyFutureJobs X MADANI Students' Universiti Teknologi MARA 2023 Career Carnival last week.
Career carnivals are among the ministry's measures that aim to align jobseekers' skills with industry demands, according to reports. Other implemented measures from the government include the Career Development Programme for Workers in the Informal Sector and the Continuation of Targeted Wage Incentive Programme.
According to the deputy minister, the Social Security Organisation also has a career development programme that offers training to individuals so they can be absorbed as skilled labour.
"We understand the industry's needs. Our goal is to minimise the number of job vacancies that do not align with the certificates, diplomas, or degrees holders and avoiding mismatches. That's our focus," Mustapha said.
As of July 2023, a total of 15,460 graduates or 42% of all jobseekers in Malaysia's national job search portal face an issue of skills mismatch, according to a separate Bernama report.
Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said early this year that employers and higher education institutions should establish closer partnerships to address the problem.
"The government should also establish a robust quality assurance and accreditation system to ensure that higher education institutions are delivering high-quality education and training," the MEF president said as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.
Early this month, Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin said they are already strengthening ties with industries and implementing measures to ensure that upcoming graduates' possess skills that employers want.
