The Human Resources Ministry is conducting a study on the starting pay of each industry and expects to publish the findings in six months’ time.
“Our ministry is in the midst of doing a national study on the starting pay for each industry. The study being done is not only done according to city, but also by district. Hopefully we will complete this study and publish the findings in six months’ time,” said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem.
He was speaking in Parliament earlier today, addressing a question by PJ Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian who had suggested a hike in the starting pay for graduates — amid rising costs of living — to address the issue of high unemployment among fresh graduates.
Datuk Seri Riot pointed out that high unemployment rate among fresh graduates is an issue faced by most developing countries, adding that the Malaysian government has offered various programmes to address this.
These include the Graduates Enhancement Programme for Employability (GENERATE) by the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) by the Economic Planning Unit and the Golongan Pekerja dan Future Workers (GPFW) programme by HRDF.
Meanwhile, Parit Sulong MP Datuk Noraini Ahmad asked on what can be done to encourage higher adoption of SL1M by government-linked companies (GLCs), as she said the current participation by GLCs is still unsatisfactory.
Quoting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Datuk Seri Riot said all GLCs must take part in SL1M as action will be taken against those that do not participate, such as a cut in allocation.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s 2016 Annual Report, youth unemployment has been on the rise in the country as growth in hiring slowed since late 2014 and was estimated to have reached 10.7% in 2015, over three times the national unemployment rate of 3.1%. Among these jobless youths, young graduates make up a relatively larger share of unemployed youths at 23%, said BNM.
The Edge
