Running Head: FACTORS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG GRADUATES 1

Factors of Unemployment between Fresh Graduates in Malaysia

Yap Weng Kit

HELP University
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Outline

I.
According to surveys and researches that I have done, there are several factors of why fresh
graduates are unemployed in Malaysia such as too choosy in seeking jobs, the system of
education, discrimination factors in the process of employing, and lack of soft skills.

II.
III. Introduction
A. Opener:
B. Thesis statement: There are several factors of why fresh graduates are unemployed in
Malaysia such as too choosy in seeking jobs, the system of education, discrimination
factors in the process of employing, and lack of soft skills.
IV. Graduates are too choosy in seeking jobs
A. Expect higher pay
1. Price of products are expensive
2. Have to support familys finance
B. Cannot stand the pressure of working in ones company
1. Got no working experience
2. Habit of asking money from parents
V. The system of education that fresh graduates are used to it.
A. Vocational subjects
1. Not compulsorily taught
2. Studying superficial subjects
B. Get through with high marks
Secure marks than effectiveness of subject in life
VI. Discrimination factors in the process of employing graduates.
A. Work place
Genders
B. Ethnicity
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1. Race
2. Character traits
VII. Graduates that are lacking of soft skills have disadvantages in getting employed.
A. Analytical thinking
Unable to analyze problems
B. Good communication skills
Unable to communicate by using English
C. Teamwork
1. Unable to cooperate with peers
2. No leadership skills
VIII. Conclusion
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Unemployment among Fresh Graduates in Malaysia

The definition of unemployment is the fact of a number of people not having a job.

Unemployment has been one of the serious problems among fresh graduates these days, as there

are many competitors out there that even a graduate with an excellent result may also be

unemployed. According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (1996-2003), the

unemployment rates have increased from 2.6% in 1996 to 3.6% in 2003. Fresh graduates have

difficulties in maintaining their jobs and holding a job which does not meet their expectations or

correspond to their education. Although the unemployment rates have increased in Malaysia, but

it is always low compared to other countries like United States, India and European as the

competitiveness there are strong even a Master Holder could hardly get a job (Department of

Statistics, Malaysia, 1996-2003). The increasing of unemployment rate may lead to a higher

crime rate, loss of self esteem and mental stress that leads graduates to depression. There are

several factors of why fresh graduates are unemployed in Malaysia such as too choosy in seeking

jobs, the system of education, discrimination factors in the process of employing, and lack of soft

skills.

These days, graduates are too choosy in seeking jobs because of their high expectation

towards the wages even though they are lack of experience and they cannot stand the pressure

of working in ones company (New Straits Times, 2012). According to Chin (2007), graduates

have high expectation towards the wages because of the inflation which means the price of

products is getting more expensive for a certain period. Besides that, some of the graduates

expect a higher pay to support their familys finance as not everyone in this world are born with

a golden spoon which means not everyone are born in rich family. Other than high expectation

towards the wages, graduates have also been under a big pressure of working in ones company
Running Head: FACTORS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG GRADUATES 5

because they have got no working experience, for instance, a graduate goes for an interview

without researching or knowing the background of the company as their employer will ask them

about the background of their company (Chin, 2007). Also, graduates are most likely to be

unemployed because they do not create a functional resume before they go for an interview.

According to Tan (2007), creating a functional resume is important because it shows that what

graduates can offer for the company but not what they are lack off. Furthermore, graduates have

the habit of asking money from their parents since small which makes them cannot stand the

pressure when they are working because they are too used to it in getting what they want (Tan,

2007). They do not know how hard is it to earn a single ringgit which is why when they are

working for a company they feel that they are having stress, therefore graduates hop from one to

another company when they are too choosy and easily attracted by a difference of a few hundred

ringgit.

The second factor of why fresh graduates are unemployed in Malaysia is the system of

education that graduates are used to it. Many of the schools in Malaysia do not take vocational

subjects as a compulsory subject. Because of it is not taken as a compulsory subject, many of the

graduates are lack of self confidence during practical activities. Vocational subjects are

important because it helps graduates to have a better performance and provides stable jobs as this

type of job whose demand is never be fulfilled. The superficial subjects that graduates have

studied are too shallow which makes them unable to fulfill the qualifications of the company.

Even a company employs graduates who just study superficial subjects their wages would not be

as high as graduates who have studied deep subjects. Also, with such shallow knowledge they

have, they would not be able to solve complicated problems but only the easy ones, therefore a

company would not employ graduates with shallow knowledge. Other than that, graduates just
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get through with high marks in school. Graduates secure high marks than effectiveness of

subject in practical life as teachers do not really ask us to apply the things we learn in life but to

ask us score higher marks in order to enter college. Hence, students are used to just score higher

marks than applying the effectiveness of subject in life when they are in high school and college.

When a person does not apply the effectiveness of subject in life, their brain will be inflexible

when they are thinking for ideas. They would only follow the order that is given by their

employers without analyzing whether it is wrong or correct which also mean that their brain is

rigid and could not think for ideas but to follow orders given by their employers.

Discrimination in the process of employing graduates has been one of the factors of

unemployment. Gender has always been one of the discrimination factors in the process of

employing graduates. According to the Ministry of Higher Education (2008), the participation of

women in the labor force is considered low although it has considerably increased over the years.

The rates of unemployment of graduates have risen rapidly for female than male graduates since

1990 but the percentage of female graduates studying in higher institutions was much higher than

the male graduates (Ministry of Higher Education, 2008). According to Teichler (2000),

Women are most probably to graduate from the field of study that do not offer highly technical

skills such as education, arts, humanities, social science and law (Teichler, 2000). According to

the Kougioumoutzaki and Kalamatianou (2008), Graduates who are in science and technology

have fewer problems in getting a job compared to those in humanities and social science

(Kougioumoutzaki & Kalamatianou, 2008). According to Allen (1998) and Drewes (2002), they

believe that social science graduates may not have the benefit as they are lacked of technical

skills and the incapability to relate it to their programs of study (Allen, 1998 & Drewes, 2002).

Furthermore, ethnicity is also one of the factors that employer usually discriminates. (Saarela &
Running Head: FACTORS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG GRADUATES 7

Finns, 2002; Blackaby et al., 1998; Blackaby et al., 2002) found that population of groups who

experience low unemployment rates may also have high wages and disability retirement capacity.

Due to the fact that some graduates choose to return to their hometown to search for a job, the

unemployment rate has also increased because the job opportunities in town are lesser than the

one who finds job in city (Parthasarathy & Anand, 1995). Indian graduates are hardly to be

employed compared to Chinese and Malay graduates. Also, many of the graduates have attitude

problems such as unpunctuality and irresponsibility. According to Salika Suksuwan (2009),

graduates were so irresponsible that they did not even bother to inform the company if they were

late for or unable to attend for meetings. Other than that, there were also graduates who did not

turn up for an interview or first day of work, in contrast, the company had to call them and

remind them about the scheduled interview if they did not turn up (Salika Suksuwan, 2009).

The last factor of unemployment among graduates in Malaysia is graduates these days are

lacked of soft skills which give them disadvantages during the process of employing (Nor Hartini,

2007). There many types of soft skills such as analytical thinking, good communication skills

and teamwork. A company needs employees that can analyze and solve problems because when

a company has a project and some problem occurred, they need people who can analyze

problems so that they would not give up easily and solve the problem. Moreover, graduates can

barely communicate by using English. Many of the primary and secondary schools, and local

universities use Bahasa Malaysia to teach as it is the official language of Malaysia. As a result,

local graduates may find it difficult to communicate using Bahasa Malaysia when they are out in

the society. Due to the fact of English is frequently used for communication in working places

and some of the government departments in Malaysia, the government decided that Mathematics

and Science subjects in primary and secondary schools would be taught in English from year
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2003 onwards. Furthermore, it is a worldwide phenomenon wherever people works it requires to

be more flexible, where more attention is placed on communication skills and personality

features rather than entirely on human important variables like grade point averages (Spenser &

Spenser, 1993). Based on this factor, it is obvious that poor English language proficiency is one

of the factors that increase the local graduate unemployment. Other than that, teamwork is also

important in a company. Teamwork is like team spirit, it helps people to achieve a goal or solve

problems whenever there are like what people usually say that it is fragile for a stick to be broken

if it is one; however, if there are a bundle of sticks are together, it cannot be broken with the

same force used to break that single stick. As for now, companies require people who are

possessed with the right soft skills such as teamwork and leadership skill because it is hard to

find it now. Many of the graduates are spoon fed since small which makes them hard to

cooperate with their peers. They get whatever they want from their parents and because of that,

they would only ask for help but not working together to solve problems. Also, graduates who

do not have leadership skills will not be employed because they could not guide their peers to do

jobs. According to Nor Hartini (2007), graduates who do not have leadership skills are most

probably that do not participate in curricular activities when they are in primary or secondary

schools because it enhances soft skills (Nor Hartini, 2007). By participating curricular activities,

it can help graduates to develop skills and knowledge by stimulating their mind with discussions

and case studies. Besides that, when a person does not have leadership skills, they are not

assertive it means that they could not decide on what to do. According to Nor Hartini (2007),

soft skills enable them to communicate effectively, lead a team, solve problems and most

importantly succeed in the job market (Nor Hartini, 2007). Therefore, their peers do not want

their leader that does not have leadership skills.

Running Head: FACTORS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG GRADUATES 9

In conclusion, having good grades do not guarantee that Malaysian graduates will be

employed. Graduates must not be too choosy in seeking jobs even though they have to support

their familys finance. Graduates must be independent by means that they must not ask any

money from parents. Graduates should always apply the things that they have learnt in practical

life and also gain more knowledge through internet or library. Gender is also another factor that

causes unemployment. According to Osman and Yusoff (2008), it is found that male graduates

have more chances of employment than female graduates (Osman & Yusoff, 2008). Graduates

must have good soft skills such as analytical thinking, leadership skill, teamwork and good

communication skill. The Malaysian government has also taken a step in changing the language

of Mathematics and Science subjects to English. Graduates who are born from rural areas are

less exposed to speaking in English because most of them study in local universities where

Bahasa Malaysia is used to communicate. Graduates have to participate curricular activities so

that they could enhance their analytical thinking, communication skills, leadership skills and be

able to cooperate with each other. Last but not least, graduates have to change their bad habits in

order to be employed and also to reduce the crime rate in this world.
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Reference List

Chin, V.K. (2007, August 28). Graduates should not be too choosy about jobs. The Star.

Retrieved Novomber 15, 2016, from http://thestar.com.my

Department of Statistics, Malaysia (1996). Labour force survey report. Malaysia: Putrajaya.

Department of Statistics, Malaysia (2003). Labour force survey report. Malaysia: Putrajaya.

Drewes, T. (2002). Value added: humanities and social sciences degrees. Evidence supports

long-term employment success. Viewpoint. Ontario Confederation of University Faculty

Associations Forum.

Hogan, R., & Warrenfeltz, R. (2003). Educating the modern manager. Academy of Management

Learning and Education.

Kougioumoutzaki F., & Kalamatianou, A. G. (2008). Employment status and occupational

mismatch: The case of Greek social sciences graduates. Paper presented at the 2nd International

Conference on Educational Economics, Athens, Greece, 27 30 August 2008.

Spenser, L. M., Spenser, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance.

New York: John Wiley and Sons.

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