MALAYSIA’S overall unemployment rate of 3.3% is still considered as full employment as per the standards of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

A nation with an unemployment rate of below 4% falls under the full employment category. 

According to the Statistics Department, Malaysia’s unemployment rate stood at 3.3% in 2018 while youth unemployment rate, on the other hand, stood at 10.9%. 

“The unemployment rate among youth aged between 15 and 24 is a normal phenomenon experienced by developing countries and developed countries,” he told Parliament during question time today.

Among the contributing factors to youth unemployment include a lack of skills and education, lack of experience and mismatch of skills.

“In addition to that, youth should also boost their personality and attitude so that it is in line with what is being sought by employers – that is, by being committed, hardworking, and resilient, a team worker, willing to learn, ability to work under stress and being proactive.”

Dr Mahathir said efforts are in place to address the issue of unemployment through the Jobs Malaysia portal and one-stop centre to provide advisory services and training programmes to job-seekers.

The one-stop centre comprises of agencies, such as Jobs Malaysia, Socso, Human Resource Development Fund and Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju). 

To a supplementary question by Ahmad Maslan (Pontian-BN) on whether the government will consider introducing an entrepreneurship stream in addition to the science and arts stream in secondary schools, Dr Mahathir said such initiatives are in place in certain places. 

“This is being done by the government in certain places but it is up to those who are unemployed to develop the relevant skills.”

Meanwhile, to a question by Ma’mun Sulaiman (Kalabakan-Warisan) who asked the prime minister on how can jobs be created in places that lacks foreign direct investments due to outreach and development issues.

To this, Dr Mahathir said there are ways for the government to create jobs for the unemployed whether through foreign direct investments or direct investments.

He added that industries will invest in places deemed appropriate for them secure the relevant manpower.

“If Kalabakan doesn’t have the releasable infrastructure, we will see how to develop such amenities and boost investments and create jobs there.” – July 11, 2019.