‘Gig jobs not all roses’

In perspective: Schools must ensure that SPM students, and their parents, are well-informed about the employment market. — 123rf.com

THE dwindling interest in higher education among school-leavers here is a deeply worrying trend, given the importance of developing talent for continued economic growth and foreign investment.

According to World Bank data, Malaysia’s tertiary enrolment in 2020 was at 43%, well below the United Kingdom at 69% and Singapore at 93%.

In May, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek announced that 180,680 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students from the 2021 school session, or 48.74% of the intake, had chosen not to further their education. This represents a significant increase from the 2020 session, where 35.16% had chosen not to do so.

In addition, non-governmental organisation Untuk Malaysia claimed that 70,445 of the SPM 2022 candidates had failed to get a certificate, hinting at deeper, structural issues around the quality of education delivery.In response, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said some of the students’ concerns and reasons for not furthering their studies were related to the job market, unemployment and low salary despite having a higher education, while a UCSI Poll Research Centre study involving 1,000 SPM school-leavers revealed that out of the 49% who had no intention of furthering their studies, 26% planned on becoming e-hailing drivers and 22% wanted to start a food and beverage business.

The gig economy provides a quick and easy way for people to earn money, so it’s understandable that SPM graduates might be attracted to that line of work.

However, while the gig economy was previously seen as a means to supplement one’s income, it is increasingly becoming, for many, the primary source of income. Unfortunately, many jobs in the gig economy are low-skilled and offer little in the way of career progression and better salaries.

The issue of graduates’ low salaries should also not be over-generalised and needs further discussion. Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman has reportedly shared that the average starting salary for graduates with an honours degree is about RM2,700.

However, it has also been reported (“Grads ‘too good’ for their jobs”, The Star, June 6) that almost half, or 40.5%, of graduates, are underemployed in semi-skilled and low-skilled occupations.

Underemployed refers to graduates working in jobs that do not require a degree or diploma, most likely at a lower salary, and therefore dragging down the overall average starting salary for graduates. In other words, while six out of 10 graduates find graduate-level employment, four out of 10 do not.

On the other hand, Malaysia is facing a talent crunch. There is no shortage of opportunities for talented graduates in areas such as accounting, information technology, quantity surveying, marketing, digital business and data sciences.

Analytics from JobStreet, MyFutureJobs and other recruitment portals provide a real-time picture of employer needs. Malaysia’s long-standing skills shortages are also well-documented in TalentCorp’s Critical Occupations List (COL). Importantly, graduates with in-demand skills can earn significantly more than the average graduate starting salary, with the potential for further hikes as one’s career progresses.

Students opting for low-skilled jobs in the gig economy in search of a quick buck may hamper their long-term career prospects and therefore later come to regret their decision. At the same time, we need to accept that the gig economy is a structural change in the employment market.

Hence, schools have a duty to ensure that SPM students, and their parents, are well-informed so that the youths are able to make the best decisions regarding their future careers. Doing so will help students understand the value of education, dispel misconceptions, and go some way to addressing the declining interest in further education.

The government’s recent effort to develop technical and vocational education and training (TVET) qualifications is a step in the right direction in providing students with more career pathways, although it may not necessarily address concerns around low starting salaries.

The government can consider more targeted measures, such as increasing places at public universities for courses where there is a talent crunch, or providing preferential terms on National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans for such courses.

A separate initiative to review the SPM curriculum, its relevance to industry needs, and the effectiveness of its delivery, should also be considered, recognising that even well-developed nations like Singapore are constantly tweaking their education ecosystems.

The overarching strategy is clear – education that is relevant to industry is a win-win for students and employers, and fuels the talent engine for economic growth and development required for the country’s global competitiveness. It is thus a matter of executing that strategy in the most effective and efficient manner.

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.