Graduates in unrelated jobs due to govt policy

An economist has blamed the government for the inability of university graduates to find jobs befitting their education.

It was government policy that created the problem, said Geoffrey Williams of Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST).

He noted that the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011 to 2015) aimed to create 3.3 million jobs by 2020, 68% of which would not require a university degree.

“It aimed for 56.3% to be low-income and 29.5% to be middle-income. So the Malaysia plans have been completely successful in creating meaningless, low-paid, low-value-added, precarious and informal employment for many years,” he said.

He was commenting on Warisan president Shafie Apdal’s call for intensified efforts to provide employment opportunities for graduates so that they would not have to depend on jobs paying low salaries.

Williams said the issue needed to be resolved by the market rather than the government, adding that reforms on the supply side was essential.