Over 300,000 youths unemployed, says Human Resource Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: There are over 300,000 unemployed youth in the country aged between 15 and 24 in the second quarter of 2023, says the Human Resources Ministry.

In a parliamentary reply on Tuesday (Oct 10), the ministry said the high unemployment rate among youth is a global phenomenon faced by most countries worldwide.

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“According to the Statistics Department, for the second quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate of youths aged 15 to 24 is 10.7%, or 307,700 people.

“Although this percentage seems high, the unemployment rate in Malaysia as a whole is 3.5%. In the economic sense, an unemployment rate of less than 4% is defined as full employment,” the ministry said.

This is in response to a question by Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis), who asked the Human Resources Ministry about the problems that arise from and the impact of the high unemployment rate among the youth.

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To reduce the number of unemployment among the young age bracket, the ministry urged the youth to take advantage of the various career programmes available to them.

Such programmes include the Academy in Industry Programme which targets SPM graduates and youth who are eyeing skill-based careers and the Career Building Programme for Informal Sector Workers.

The ministry said the Industrial Training Scheme and Future Workers Training programme could benefit unemployed youth aged 18 and above.

“The government is also intensifying efforts to hold programmes through TalentCorp through initiatives such as the Nurturing Expert Talent (MyNext), National Structured Internship Program (MySIP) and Young Employable Student (YES).

“The MyNext-Future Youth Aspiration Graduate Marketability Grant (MyNext-FYA) focuses on intervention programs in preparing graduates towards premium paid jobs (RM4,000 and above) outlined by the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT).”