Lower mean monthly salary and wages for graduates during the pandemic

BASED on the Graduates Statistics 2020, the mean monthly salaries and wages received by graduates aged above 15 years old was RM4,489, says the Department of Statistics of Malaysia (DOSM).

This is lower than the RM5,020 received in 2019.

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Meanwhile, graduates aged 24 and below received a mean monthly salary and wages of RM1,949 in 2020 compared to RM2,367 in 2019 due to lack of working experience.

“Considering that most of graduates complete their study at the age of 25, data for age group 25 to 34 years can be a proxy to measure salaries and wages received by graduates with more than five years of employment.

“In 2020, this group received mean monthly salaries and wages amounting to RM3,371,” the DOSM tells Sunday Star.

This is lower than the mean monthly salaries and wages for this group in 2019, which amounted to RM3,955.

However, DOSM notes that the monthly mean salaries and wages for graduates in all sectors exceeded RM3,000 in 2020 with the highest being in the Mining and Quarrying sector (RM6,962) followed by Services (RM4,621) and Construction sectors (RM3,990).

“Meanwhile, mean monthly salaries and wages for graduates in Manufacturing and Agriculture sectors were RM3,889 and RM3,229 respectively,” it says.

A similar situation was observed for graduates aged 25 to 34 years whereby mean monthly salaries & wages received in all sectors were above RM3,000, out of which the highest was in Mining & Quarrying sector followed by Services and Manufacturing sectors.

“In addition, data shows that graduates aged 35 and above received higher mean monthly salaries and wages between RM4,000 to RM10,000 in line with the longer working experiences,” the department adds.