Bank Negara Malaysia, in its Annual Report 2018, revealed that real monthly salaries for graduates holding a diploma, degree and master’s have dipped since 2010. The report also observed a decline in demand for high-skilled jobs. 

The decline in the starting salaries could be attributed to the mismatch between degree holders and available jobs. 

The economy has not been able to provide sufficient high-skilled jobs for graduates. The report showed that throughout 2010 to 2017, although the net employment gains in high-skilled jobs stand at about 98,514 people, we saw 173,457 diploma and degree holders entering the job market per annum.  

One interesting trend observed in the report was that own-account workers, or self-employed people, in urban areas rose from 10.9% in 2010 to 15.4% in 2017. 

Commentary by Tiu Kian Wee, Education Services Manager (kianwee.tiu@britishcouncil.org.my)
Although the demand of high-skilled jobs is low, the government is making STEM a priority for students. Business management and entrepreneurship related subjects are perceived as a more practical study choice for students and their parents. This could be due to the changing dynamics of the labour market: growing sharing economy, advent of technology and increasing demand for flexible working arrangements. Although these are the popular subjects Malaysian students choose to study in the UK, institutions are now urged to focus on developing the graduates’ soft-skills to increase their employability.

In the same report, parents expressed their intention to continue investing in tertiary education for their child(ren). However, most asked for better communication between education providers and the businesses as well as with the government needs to happen, to bridge the gap between labor mismatch. We may expect more conversations to happen between the UK education institutions and the industry players as well as the government authorities.  

Institutions are encouraged to promote the institutions’ efforts in developing their graduates’ employability to appeal to the Malaysian market. These marketing strategies should target both influencers and students to address their concerns.