ON March 16, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi called on all employers to offer a starting salary of RM3,000 to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates.

Recently, senator C. Sivaraj proposed that university graduates be offered a monthly wage of no less than RM3,000 to cope with rising cost of living, but how are graduates categorised?

If diploma holders are excluded, are all those with a bachelor’s degree considered competent?

The Department of Skills Development issues the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) from level 1 to 3, plus the Malaysian Skills Diploma (DKM) and Malaysian Advanced Skills Diploma (DLKM).

People holding a DKM or DLKM are regarded as highly skilled in their fields.

However, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) ranks the DLKM at level 5 of the Malaysian Qualifications Framework. A graduate certificate is level 6, followed by graduate diploma, up to a bachelor’s degree at the top.

While skills certificates and diplomas are issued by the department, academic certificates, diplomas and degrees are issued by countless institutes, colleges and universities in Malaysia and around the world. However, the government only accepts qualifications recognised by MQA.

Nevertheless, in the private sector, it is performance that counts. Those with high qualifications or a great track record may be recruited with equally high expectations but will be given the boot if they cannot perform, as employees are not paid for their diplomas or degrees.

If so, raising the minimum salary for all graduates could easily backfire. Instead of raising their income, more could lose their livelihood if they become unemployed because demand will be poor for services and goods that are overpriced.

Employers have no qualms paying more to those who are productive. Take, for example, two classmates with equally excellent SPM results.

The first can afford higher education and goes on to obtain a diploma or a degree.

The other has to start working to support his family and therefore strives hard in the workplace to prove his worth.

Instead of acquiring academic qualifications, he picks up industry knowledge, gains valuable job skills and earns promotions.

If the graduate joins the same company, he will be offered a lower position and salary than the schoolmate with only SPM qualifications.

This is because most of the theory he studied will not help him to apply his knowledge and perform well at work.

Yet if the graduate is humble, has a positive attitude, is dedicated to his work, and has great communication skills so that he can learn quickly and get along well with everyone, he can eventually leapfrog many of his colleagues.

Alas, most fresh graduates are not like that as they can hardly describe well in their own words things they ought to know, thanks to superficial understanding through years of rote learning, completing assignments through copy and paste or outright plagiarism.

In the private sector, all employees must earn their keep. They need to be productive and earn profits for the company much more than their salaries.

In profitable years, bonuses are distributed as reward to incentivise staff.

It will be foolish for any employer to underpay staff who perform well, in the face of potential poaching by competitors.

Companies grow when they employ an optimum number of productive workers.

However, not all employers are equal, especially in smaller companies where the bosses are only interested in hoping employees stay in the same job as long as possible, with little or no option for career growth.

It is common to find staff organisational charts displayed in government agencies but not in the private sector.

Yet companies that wish to grow their business should display the current organisational chart, and that for next year and five years down the road.

This will remind existing staff on the company’s expansion plans and motivate them to work hard.

I have set up many new companies. I preferred graduates, but those without a diploma or degree who came with good character and communication skills were given a chance

I was highly skilled, so I always recruited those without experience in the same business.

I would train them so well that they could be more knowledgeable in two months than someone in the same business for 20 years, who may have just been using one month’s experience repeated 240 times.

Even for the most junior staff, I would tell them to think like a manager from the very first day. I would usually leave the companies I have set up within two years, and allow the staff that I have recruited and trained to take over.

Many graduates spent tens of thousands of ringgit to study in a university but the most valuable experience they gain is in their first job.

Instead of paying, they are being paid to learn before they could perform well at work and contribute significantly to the organisation.

Yet, few employers would pay RM3,000 or more to graduates with a bad attitude. – April 7, 2023.

* Y.S. Chan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.