New opportunities: The gig economy is a good way to supplement one’s income, but whether it should replace one’s primary career is a separate issue altogether. – 123rf.com
THE debate about whether university education is worth pursuing is not new, with employability and graduate earnings often becoming focal points for discussion.
This year, in the United Kingdom, record numbers of students are entering university with more than 50% of young people choosing to study an undergraduate degree.
Data, also from the UK, suggests that graduates enjoy higher earnings in their careers than non-graduates, with similar findings from other developed countries.
In Malaysia, however, the average starting salaries for fresh graduates remain low, arguably, with the Department of Statistics Malaysia reporting a 10.6% drop in 2020 from RM5,020 to RM4,489.
Added to this are long-standing concerns that the higher education sector in the country continues to produce too many graduates, many of whom end up either underemployed or unemployed.
For some families, the cost-benefit of studying in a university simply does not stack up.
With the rise of the gig economy, young people now have alternative means to generate income that, in some cases, may be financially more rewarding than regular employment.
Taking Gen Z’s changing work preferences into consideration, we should not be so surprised that many young people are not necessarily interested in following conventional employment pathways.
The dangers of this emerging trend are twofold.
The first is that large numbers of impressionable young adults may be deluding themselves that the gig economy offers them the promise of a bright future.
While the gig economy no doubt offers some quick money, it may provide less stability, security and earning potential than a more “regular” career in the long term.
The gig economy is a good way to supplement one’s income, but whether it should replace one’s primary career is a separate issue altogether.
The second danger is that companies in Malaysia struggle to find the skills they need from a shrinking pool of talent, which hampers their ability to grow, innovate and compete.
The talent crunch that the nation faces will only get worse, with the country becoming less attractive to foreign investors and the economy remaining at the low end of the value chain.
The spiral is a downward one with significant structural and long-term economic ramifications.
The experience at the university I represent is that talented graduates pursuing career-oriented degrees have little problem finding respectable, graduate-level employment.
Education is the best, and sometimes only, route if one’s intention is to become a doctor, engineer, surveyor, lawyer, accountant or any other professional.
TalentCorp has, since 2015, maintained a Critical Occupations List (COL) which identifies where skills in Malaysia are in short supply.
There’s clearly a need to produce more of such industry-needed talent, which is a win-win for graduates and employers.
The government’s current attention on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is a much-needed one that, if effectively implemented, can produce industry-ready graduates with the required technical skills to build a good career without necessarily needing to earn a degree.
With such pathways in place, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers will feel there are more credible options than the gig economy to build a career.
In the UK, new hybrid models of university-industry partnerships, known as degree apprenticeships, have gained traction, where students split their time between on-the-job training and at-university learning.
Henley Business School, which is part of my university, is one of the leading providers in the UK offering leadership, management and digital apprenticeships.
Ultimately, the overall objective is to design an education ecosystem that provides different routes and opportunities for young people to build careers that will in turn help propel the economy and secure a prosperous future.
The gig economy no doubt has a role in that ecosystem, but more can be done to enhance and develop pathways in further and higher education.
Prof Wing Lam is the provost and chief executive officer at University of Reading Malaysia, an international branch campus of University of Reading,
United Kingdom. He has held a variety of academic positions in Malaysia, Singapore and the UK. Prof Wing completed his PhD in computer science at King’s College London in 1994.
He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and journals. His current areas of research interest include technology and innovation.
The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
