Tackle youth unemployment

IT WAS reported in the Bank Negara Annual Report 2016 that the national youth unemployment rate in Malaysia has reached more than three times the national unemployment rate of 3.1%, due to the slower growth in hiring.

Youth unemployment is not exclusive to Malaysia, it is one of the major problems currently faced by world economies. According to the Generation Stalled Report in 2017, almost one-third of young Australians are unemployed or underemployed, the highest level in 40 years. In Turkey, the number of young jobless Turks rose to 24% after the economy shrank in the third quarter of 2016. In South Korea, youth unemployment rose to a record high last year despite the Park administration’s efforts to help more young people secure jobs. Youth unemployment has become a mass phenomenon which is potentially menacing for the stability of democratic societies in the medium and long run. It leads to social erosion and undermines the future prospects of individual careers.