jobless, unemployed, unemployable (part 2)

Many have come to the defense of graduates in light of the recent media frenzy concerning the topic of the 80,000 unemployed graduates.

This letter is among the many grouses brought forward by the unemployed themselves. I quote:

I am appalled and disgusted by those who keep criticising our graduates for not wanting to take up jobs which pay low salaries or where working conditions resemble those of a sweat shop. Why should they? They have studied and grown up with the expectation that they will have a better life with university or tertiary education.

The writer has a valid point there. It is of common perception by the public that a university degree equals fat opportunities for lucrative jobs and comfortable five-figure salaries. This belief is no doubt being propagated by various parties.

The government's emphasis on academic excellence means that more and more students are "programmed" to score A's, and nothing more. They will do anything in order to obtain that string of A's, while forsaking more balanced education such as general knowledge, communication skills, interpersonal habits, and physical education.

Meanwhile, parents believe that a university degree is the key to success in the material world. This belief is no doubt being propagated from their own experience of their yesteryears, bringing back the memories from a time when education was scarce, and a degree meant a lot. These days, universities are churning out graduates by the thousands, with a job market unable to meet the demand.

Do the employers have any contribution to the declining standards of prospective employees? Apparently so, as articulated by this writer. The following passage is quoted from the letter:

In the early 1990s, I was jobless after graduating with a degree in Hotel Management. I was unable to get even a waiter’s job in a hotel.

The reason given was that I was overqualified and the hotel was certain I would not stay long on the job.

I was also not considered for a more senior position as I did not have the experience. This was the dilemma I faced for nearly a year...

Overqualification due to having a simple university degree? Won't stay long because of the high demands? Perhaps the employers here are to blame for their selfishness in wanting to squeeze the most out of fresh graduates while paying low starting salaries. Job hopping within the industries is a normal and anticipated phenomenon. It is up to each company or employer to create incentives to inculcate company loyalty and reduce employee turnover.

What is the real problem?

The Malay Mail reports here that the majority of the unemployed graduates in our country comprise of 3 major disciplines of study: business administration, computer IT, and engineering.

Could this be a repercussion from the zealous efforts by the government to promote technology and entrepeneurship in the early years of the Multimedia Super Corridor's conception? There was a time when engineering courses were shortened to a mind-boggling 3 years duration, when 4.5 years would have been a more realistic time frame. Various colleges were churning out IT courses by the dozens, ranging from Information Systems Engineering to Software Engineering and Computer Science. While business administration degrees are of no use if there is no practical experience to back the text book answers.

Opinion pieces seem to suggest that students should not blindly take up courses that "everyone else is studying", instead focus on each student's interest and ability.

Killing 2 birds with 1 stone?

The government is mulling the passing of a law that requires employers to adhere to a "51% locals" rule in their employment policies. Reports can be found here, here and here.

Could this be a method to combat the onslaught of foreign workers, regardless of legality, to our country? Left unchecked, our nation could be swarming with people who are not Malaysian, despite having contributed to our economy. What type of unity are we trying to inculcate through the constant hiring of foreign workers while neglecting local brains?

Or perhaps this is just the typical knee-jerk reaction from the authorities to gently coerce our unemployed graduates to keep Malaysian Ringgit in the country, instead of losing our best brains to our friendly neighbour down south.

Whichever it is, or if it's both, let's hope that the efforts will pay off and we will see solutions in the near future to these 2 social problems affecting Malaysia.