ABOUT 150,000 new jobs were created last year, said Human Resource Minister M. Kula Segaran, dispelling allegations that the labour market has been sluggish under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

The 150,000 jobs were part of the 700,000 vacancies across the country that are currently advertised in the government-run Jobs Malaysia portal. 

Half of the advertisements in the Jobs Malaysia portal are for skilled and semi-skilled jobs such as lawyers, nurses and engineers, he said.

“There are allegations that there are no jobs for our youth and our workers,” Kula told reporters after delivering his New Year’s message to his ministry in Putrajaya today.

“But the Jobs Malaysia portal shows there are 700,000 jobs for all sorts of professions, from lawyers, engineers to technicians,” he said, referring to one of his ministry’s many achievements last year.

“There are all these opportunities that are not being taken up so the allegation is untrue. Unemployment is low at 3.3% and we have created more than 100,000 new jobs last year.”

Last year, 131,618 job seekers found occupations that suited them through Jobs Malaysia, while 7,147 graduates were produced by Manpower Training Institute (ILTJM) skills training institute.

The ILTJM is part of the PH administration’s push to increase technical and vocational skills training for school leavers that will enable them to take higher-paying jobs as technicians and welders. 

About 8,203 secondary school students participated in the first National Dual Training Scheme where they worked while studying.

For those who already work full time, Kula added that 701,854 of them have successfully completed short courses that provide professional certificates for their trade.

The ministry aims to increase percentage of workers who have technical certifications from 28% to 35%.

Yet despite the better wages and prospects of ‘up-skilling’, Kula added that parents and school leavers continued to dismiss this career path.

“My problem now is that parents are not emphasising skills training. We have colleges all over the country from Kangar to Sandakan.

“They can get training courses in electrical and wiring for instance. If they get these qualifications, it is easy for them to get a job.

“The problem is parents are shunning these jobs because they think they are second class jobs.

“This is why I launched the critical jobs list. In those days studying medicine was a big thing, now the problem is getting jobs for trainee doctors.” – January 21, 2020.