It’s no secret that it is getting more difficult for graduates to get jobs these days so more people are trying out other ways and means of earning an income.
Most graduates are turning to gigs such as driving for ride-hailing companies, selling nasi lemak or being cleaners to make ends meet.
Source: Gumtree
While all jobs that provide us with an honest living are great, the actual fact is these graduates are doing jobs that they were not academically trained for. Based on a recent statement by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he says that this is a cause for concern and not something to be proud of.
Sinar Harian reported that he said it was the government who had failed if they did not create more job opportunities that match the academic skills of the graduates. He said that this was an embarrassing situation the country was facing and should not be deemed as success stories.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Berita Harian SG
This shows that the job market in Malaysia is incapable of offering good, high paying jobs to skilled graduates and they had to resort to working a few different gigs to survive.
In a policy talk that was shown on Facebook, Dr Mahathir says, “We know that the economy isn’t good now and there are lesser job opportunities which means university graduates have to resort to doing jobs that have nothing to do with that training or knowledge. We cannot be proud that our graduates drive Uber or sell nasi lemak.”
Source: FMT
“If we wanted them to be trained as Uber drivers or nasi lemak salesmen then we would have opened a university teaching them to sell nasi lemak, but we don’t have such a university,” Mahathir added.
His talk on January 17 focuses on Malaysia’s youth and how they would play a role in Pakatan Harapan’s future administration. Dr Mahathir said that it was crucial for the youths to reach their full potential with help from the older generation, FMT reported.
“We need to have both the idealistic youth as well as those who are more experienced working next to each other. So while we welcome the youth, we cannot set aside those who are older because as the saying goes, experience is the best teacher,” he said.
Watch the video here:
Source: FMT
What do you think about what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: M’sian Fresh Grads Will Find it Even Harder to Get Jobs in 2018, Here’s What Experts Say
