- 11 months ago
Ahead of Budget 2026, young Malaysians share their hopes, concerns, and ideas on employment, from job opportunities to policy support. Tune in to our discussion with Ameer Fakhri from UKM and Tarmizi Anuwar from Consumer Choice Center.
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00:00Hi, good evening. You're watching It's About Youth. I'm your host for tonight. I'm Amirah Aiman and tonight we will dive into a topic, an important topic ahead of Malaysian upcoming budget which is youth employment and we've got two guests with us tonight.
00:23And one is Tarmizi Anwar from Malaysia Country Associate at Consumer Choice Centre and also Amir Fakhri, postgraduate student from University Kebangsaan Malaysia.
00:34Thank you for joining us for tonight's episode. It's a very important episode which is youth and employment.
00:41Now, let's start abroad. We'll begin with Amir first. When you think about youth employment in Malaysia, what comes to your mind? What picture do you see, Amir?
00:49Okay, so what will be of the job market, the employment there? So, unemployment rate in Malaysia is at 3%, it's 2-3% last year.
01:00So, I think it's safe to say that we are now operating at pre-pandemic level. When compared to Singapore, South Korea, Asian developed countries, you can see it's not far off. They're at 2%.
01:13But when we zoom in into youth unemployment, the gaps widened. So, Malaysia stood at 10.5% last year.
01:23Singapore was at 7.8% and South Korea just 5.5%. So, the gaps wider now.
01:30But, you know, it's fine. 89.5% of them are still employed and whatnot. But that doesn't tell a full story.
01:39So, there's a stats in DOSEM, Department of Statistics Malaysia. It's about underemployment where people are employed for a job that doesn't match their skills, basically, or qualification.
01:54So, the underemployment rate among youth is still at 70%. So, that's a quite huge percent there.
02:03Mr. I saw you nodding quite a bit there. What do you think? What's your perspective on this?
02:08Basically, I just want to echo what Amir mentioned just now. He did mention about the underemployment.
02:15And, I mean, we do have a very good unemployment rate, like 3%. But then, we are quite concerned about our underemployment.
02:28So, I think this is really concerning because the underemployment makes people start to think that they don't want to stay in our country.
02:39I think this is one of the problems. When you get paid in very low, so you feel like you are not compensated enough.
02:48So, because of that, some young people, they are willing to go abroad just to earn more because they cannot make their proper wage income in Malaysia itself.
03:03So, and I think in general that Malaysia in the process of transitions, we do have a lot of FDI coming, which previously we saw a lot of approval FDI.
03:22But it didn't tell the whole story, as you mentioned, because for the next, the FDI usually will come like for the next five years or six years, for instance.
03:31So, from the FDI, we hope that there are a lot of upcoming high-quality jobs to make sure that we can have a better opportunity in Malaysia.
03:44And each of you have a different perspective from policy, from being a student.
03:49So, on a personal level, I would like to ask Meezy first, when you first start looking for a job, when it comes to job, especially when you're just starting out fresh from studying,
03:58what exactly are you looking for on a personal level?
04:02Yeah, I think in general, I don't just want a stable job, but I want opportunity. I want to be growth.
04:12So, usually what I'm going to do is, I'm going to find a job, but at the same time I'm going to find flexibility job that can suit with me for my career and also for my ambitions.
04:25For instance, like if I wanted to pursue my study, if I wanted to do something related with my hobby, so I want to see that the company or the job are very supportive enough
04:38for me to accommodate what I want to do, because I think this is really important.
04:46Nowadays, as we mentioned that technology is so fast, changing, the transformation is so fast, then we cannot simply like,
04:57I don't think that our degree enough or just enough.
05:00We need to have our additional knowledge, for instance, like maybe data analytics, for instance, data science,
05:10that short course that we can do, that can improve our knowledge and also our experience.
05:16And now, Amit, with the budget 2026, it's just around the corner, everyone's wondering what it means for the young people.
05:23So, let me ask, what do you hope to see in the budget when it comes to opportunities for employment in terms of youth as well?
05:30So, here's the thing, from last year's budget, under Measure 17, if I'm not mistaken, there was this new investment incentive.
05:41So, they introduced, they made Mida as a approval, approval authority for any employment pass in regards to non-citizen graduates to local institutions.
05:54So, I find that a bit interesting, because they have spent three or four years here.
05:59Yes, they are non-citizen, but they are very well aware for our culture and whatnot.
06:04So, transitioning from student to professional, it will be easy for them.
06:08But I think this year, maybe we can go one step beyond, the ministry can go one step beyond, and reduce the red tapes of employing aspects.
06:20So, but this should be limited to the sectors that we have local shortage or local talent scars.
06:27So, why I think it's important is that we want to send signal that we have the talent readiness, you know, even if it's not local talent, we are prepared to take from overseas, from other countries.
06:42Attract talent.
06:43Yeah.
06:43Attract talent.
06:43So, because at the end of the day, it's not just about political stability, currency stability, but they are also looking at talent readiness before investing in offshore.
06:54So, that is something that I would like to see in this budget.
06:57More and more high value jobs coming in from this investment.
07:01Yeah.
07:01Let me bring you in, Amizi.
07:03What do you think?
07:03What about your perspective on this?
07:05For job employment, especially for youth, I think there will be more opportunity for young people outside from the urban area.
07:13Because I think, for instance, like, we always see farmer is something like not good for our people.
07:24I think we need to empower and also emphasize that this particular agricultural sector is one of the biggest opportunity and perspective that we need to explore.
07:35And I think we need to have proper explanation and also communications to make people understand that agricultural is no longer dirty, but it's something like useful and sustainable for your country.
07:54Another one is, I think, for instance, like, maybe we can bring something interesting towards the sector itself, the agricultural.
08:04Maybe you can try to engage with technology, robotic, drones, technology.
08:09Maybe this kind of training should be given to the young people, those interested to be part of the agricultural sector, for instance.
08:19And we've talked about what to expect from the budget when it comes to youth employment.
08:24But at the same time, when it went to find a job for youth, not everyone's journey is smooth.
08:30From your circles, your peers, I'd like to begin with Army first, or even, you know, with students, your colleagues and all that.
08:37What challenges do you notice or you or yourself notice that you're facing in trying to land a job?
08:43And those challenges don't come out of nowhere. Why do you think it is this? Is it something that has to do with the education system or the job market or perhaps even, maybe, expectations?
08:55Okay, so firstly, the challenges that are faced by my peers, most of them said that they've been applying for quite some time, two months, three months, but they still haven't learned any job.
09:09And for the fresh grads, you know, like we've mentioned, I've mentioned just now about under-employment, so you have these skilled workers, they are going toe-to-toe with this fresh grad for junior or level entry position, so it's not easy for them.
09:27In terms of why this is happening, it's because we don't have enough high-value jobs to cater for our local graduates, that's the first thing.
09:36Maybe because of the investment gap, economic structure, when we talk about economic structure, we are more focused on low and semi-medium skill industries, right?
09:48And finally, it could also be because of skill mismatch, meaning that the industry needs one thing, but then the education or institutions produce another thing, so there's a mismatch there.
10:00We see, what do you think? What's your perspective? What's your view? Or maybe perhaps your experience that you've seen?
10:06I think there are multifaceted challenges, but I would say one thing is, of course, the business sector, the industry, they tend to stagnant with whatever they have right now.
10:22I mean, they don't want to change, they're reluctant to change, for instance, to invest for their workers or for their employees, and I think another one is, they don't want to change their business from focusing on the low-income employees.
10:43For instance, he mentioned just now regarding the, we too dependant towards the migrant workers. I'm okay with the migrant workers, I have no problem with that.
10:53I think I myself might be one day, go abroad to find a better opportunity for me, but what I'm trying to say is, to make sure that we have a better productivity in our country, we should have a better high-value and high-growth jobs.
11:10jobs. So, and I think it should be someone that, we need to attract talent who are in that particular level. So that, I think that's one thing.
11:27Another one is, I think this is my peers' experience itself. For instance, like, they have master degree in chemistry, chemical engineering for instance. Sorry, yeah, chemical engineering.
11:46So, but sometimes they do not know how to enter the job market, particularly on that particular sector or that particular background.
11:56So, what he's doing right now, he's doing a grab job. I didn't say grab is something bad, but I want to say is, we lost talent. We lost talent. So, I think we need to have a better pathway for the, and guidance for the local graduate, for instance.
12:23How they wanted to enter the job market, because I think it's really important to guide people. As I think one of the example that I see right now, Sharifah, one of the, she used to be the one person, Sharifah.
12:41I always saw her in LinkedIn, that she always share how to enter a job market as a local graduate. I think it's really, really helpful.
12:54When we talk about employment, or especially youth employment, the government response is always a whole nation approach, but the bulk of responsibility is on the government.
13:04Maybe, Amir, you can weigh in. Why, thinking about the importance of youth employment, why is it important for the government to really take youth employment seriously in the budget?
13:14And why does it matter, not just for the young people, but for Malaysia itself as well?
13:19So, why it's important? Youth is not only the engine of current economy, but they are also the future economic engine of Malaysia.
13:32So, I think that's why it's important. When you have high unemployment among youth, or maybe they go into employment a bit late, they have lower earnings, lower life earnings, which means they will be more likely to be dependent on government once they retire.
13:51So, you don't want that. And then, it's also a loss of revenue for the government. When they don't have the purchasing power, they don't purchase much. There's no tax revenue there, so there's a loss of revenue.
14:05For me, that's why it is important.
14:07Is it the same way, or do you feel differently?
14:10Youth, it's really, really important because it's something like to drive your country, your economic country.
14:20It should be by young people who have high productivity. If these people left your country, I think we're going to lose a lot of things.
14:32Because, I'll give you one example. We can see what is happening right now in Nepal. I used to stay in Nepal before.
14:43So, I saw a lot of young people, they are talented, but they have to move out from their country, just because of their lack of opportunities.
14:52And it caused the stability, it caused the loss of young people. They have to live abroad because they want to seek for better opportunity.
15:09Another one is, I think, it's really important is, young people is actually someone who copes with the transformation technology.
15:25Because I think nowadays, we are moving so fast in terms of the technology. And especially, we can see the, I didn't say all the people don't want to change.
15:34But I would say, young people who are the tech savvy, they should move, bring our country in a context of transformation more faster compared to the previous one.
15:44Okay, we've talked about what to expect and we talked about why is it important. Now, let's talk solutions. Amir, how do you think the government can create better pathways for youth to find not just jobs but meaningful jobs?
15:56You know, whether it's training, incentives or something else entirely different?
16:01They do have a lot of initiatives in terms of the certification to upskill yourself. But I don't think it's being communicated enough when it comes to that. So, not many knows about it.
16:15I would like to pitch in one more, which is the government's initiative. I'm pretty sure that we're familiar with former economy minister, Rafi Zeramli, has brought this before.
16:26The idea of progressive wages in order to attract talent and to retain talent with the rightful amount of wage. What do you think perhaps is lacking or what do you think of the idea?
16:37Perhaps it's a government's idea of trying to make youth employment more fancy than before.
16:44I think it's something commendable. But then again, it's coming from the tax-based money. So, the government is paying extra money on top of it. So, I'm not sure if that is productive.
17:01Yeah, I can't tell much about it. But that's my take on it. You're using tax-based money. It's not coming from the employer's side themselves.
17:12And after the period, what happened? Are they going to continue with it? The employer is going to take over and pay the same amount or are they just going to go back to the base amount that they've paid before?
17:23Yeah, I think in general, just before I answer that question, I wanted to reiterate on the context of Malaysia. If you look at the international competitiveness ranking,
17:42So, Malaysia is getting better this year compared to the previous year. But I think we still have one problematic is actually we still have a lot of hurdles and challenges by the investor to come into Malaysia.
18:01And in our country as well, sometimes they choose which company they wanted to give exemption. So, I think we need to properly be consistent in terms of our policy.
18:20We should reduce barrier in terms of entering our job, our investment in Malaysia. I think it will help a lot in terms of encouraging new investment coming into Malaysia. That's one thing.
18:38The second thing is in terms of the wages. I think it's commendable, but I think it should be more concrete. I would prefer it's not coming from the government. I would prefer it coming from the industry itself or the private sector itself.
18:56Because that's your employee. So, I think the private sector as well need to take responsibility in terms of retaining your employee and also give a better compensation to the employee.
19:21Like I mentioned before, the youth employment or any employment issues in the country is a whole nation approach.
19:29And there has been some comments on social media as well. Perhaps on LinkedIn, we can see that employers are complaining how actually they have jobs.
19:38But youth themselves, they're not equipped when it comes to perhaps interviews or anything.
19:44But on your side, Ameva, how do you perhaps and your peers actually prepare yourself for the job market? Or how should they prepare themselves for the job market?
19:53And where do you feel that maybe perhaps the government policy could help support that effort in terms of preparing the students themselves to the job market?
20:01Oh, okay. So, what me and my peers are doing, we are taking certifications, professional certifications. So, there will be an added value. It will be an advantage to us when it comes to applying jobs.
20:14How the government can help? I think I mentioned just now, what I want to see in the budget is about the expat, hiring expat with less red tape.
20:24How that would help is, there will be transfer of knowledge. You can put a ratio maybe like for each expat, you can have two or three local apprentices.
20:33So, what they will do is, they will be trained by this aspect and after a while, they will be equipped with the knowledge that we don't have local expertise before.
20:44So, now we have local expertise. Basically, they're taking the baton from the aspect. And from there onwards, they can then teach those who come after them.
20:54So, I believe that is the best way to improve our talent readiness.
21:01Music, what do you think? Is it the same? You have the same view as well?
21:05I think, yeah, almost similar. But I just want to add some more.
21:11I myself actually try to equip myself, attend short courses, went to different courses.
21:19Because I think it's really, really important. Even for myself right now, I'm applying for the Power BI Microsoft Data Analytics.
21:29Because I think it's really important for me. Even though I'm not learning, I've never learned it before. Even I'm not from, what we call it, not from data science background.
21:43But I think I would love to. And I'm doing it right now. So, that's one thing. And I, last week actually, I attended a policy roundtable discussion. And we see how Talent Corp, they do some apprenticeship and also internship, in terms of helping and educating them.
22:05For the, for the fresh graduates, not only to enter job market, but to enhance, to take a certificate or also professional certificate. So then they can have a better opportunity and also pathway.
22:23And another one is, I think, from my side is, it's really important. As a young people, you have to take responsibility. It's not only by, it's not only everything is by the government.
22:41So, to give you an example, we see some problems right now, that people started to think that after, after finished their school, high school, they straight away wanted to be, work in gig economics.
22:59I didn't say it's bad, but I would say, we have to tell them, and we have to explain to them, that you might be able to earn certain amount of money, but it will be stagnant.
23:13Or even, or even, or even maybe lesser. I give you an example, we, since like, for the past five years, or maybe seven years, 2018, 2019, we heard that, the, the grabs, they will earn around seven or eight thousand a month.
23:31But nowadays, it's, it's really hard to get that amount, because of the, the company started to operate in different direction.
23:41Previously, they have a lot of promotion as everything. But I would, but, so I think, it's really important, as a young people, you have to equip yourself, you have to continue, you have to have a better education and also job opportunity.
23:59If you have education, you're going to have a better opportunity. So I think it's really important to have the encouragement and also explanation to the youth, if you finish your study, I mean, finish your high school, you should continue to find something like really, really useful for your future.
24:17There has been insightful discussion, but before we close, we have like around two minutes, so that I would like to toss to one minute to you, Amir, one minute to Mizzi.
24:24I'd like to, each of you, imagine if you can, speak directly to our Finance Minister, which is also our Prime Minister, Datuk Suryano Ibrahim, on what's the one thing you would like to say about youth employment?
24:35What is most needed? What's important? We begin with you first, Amir.
24:39Okay. So, I hope to see more high value jobs. Of course, that's the first thing. But, I also want to acknowledge that, whichever government it is, there have always been so many good initiatives being taken by the government.
25:00Whichever it is. But, it's not properly communicated. When you look at the social media, it's more about, like for example MOF, right, there's this, most of the posting are about, sorry, Madani Bekerja, or something.
25:20Yeah. So, it's about the little field trip for the ministers and deputies ministers. So, I think that's a bit feudalistic. That's not what me as rakyat wants to see.
25:32What we want to see is, what are the initiatives there that can benefit us? And we also would like to see how, for example, complex issues, the bill, how it can be broken down into simpler infographics, like how they do.
25:49In Singapore, you know, in Singapore, in Singapore social media. So, I think the ministry should, maybe can learn from Singapore's example.
26:01Because, at the end of the day, you can have all of the initiatives that you want in the world. But, if no one knows about it, then what's the use of it? What's the point of it?
26:11So, yeah, communicate better. You want to be informed about it.
26:15What about you, Mizzy?
26:16Just to reiterate what he said just now. So, to make sure that the policy can be communicated properly, it should be start with or begin with proper engagement with youth.
26:32What I mean is, if you want to do one particular policy or any particular policy, it should be have an engagement with the youth before.
26:41Sometimes, the government always wanted to do policy, but lack of engagement and also insight from the young people or also public in general.
26:54So, I think the engagement by the government in terms of getting input and also insight from the people, it should be really important.
27:04Even though it might take some time, but even though it takes some time, I think it's really important that it helps people aware what are the issues that have been discussed, are discussing.
27:20And also, from there, we can improve our policy communications. So, whatever government wanted to do, whatever government wanted to implement, it will be easier received by the people and also accepted by the people.
27:35Otherwise, it will really, really hard people to understand or also people to get the information.
27:41Gentlemen, thank you very much. We would like to thank Tarmizi and Ameh for sharing your thoughts today.
27:47It's clear that employment is important more than just finding a job. It's about shaping the countries, the Malaysia's workforce itself.
27:55Now, that's all the time that we have for tonight's episode. And you're watching It's About Youth. I'm Amir Ayman, your host for tonight.
28:01Thank you for watching. Good night.
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