KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's labour market continues to perform well with an unemployment rate of 2.9% in November 2025, the lowest level in 11 years, says Datuk Seri Ramanan Ramakrishnan.
The Human Resources Minister said the country's labour market remained resilient despite facing economic transitions, rapid technological advancements and changing global work practices.
"At a time when the economy is facing increasing job uncertainty, Malaysia's employment ecosystem has remained relatively stable, with encouraging results for new graduates and first-time job seekers," he said in an article titled Strengthening Graduate Marketability and Labour Market Coordination in Malaysia sent to Bernama.
Ramanan said according to the Statistics Department of Malaysia (DOSM), total employment increased to 17.09 million people while the employment-to-population ratio rose to 68.8%$, indicating that more Malaysians have successfully entered the labour market.
"Employment is now increasingly driven by the role of skilled and semi-skilled workers, thus moving the country towards high-value jobs," he said.
He said for young Malaysians, the development was important because the economy was not only providing more jobs, but also improving the quality of jobs.
"This shows that the economy was not only providing more jobs but, more importantly, improving the quality of those jobs," he said.
Ramanan said the Human Resources Ministry under the Madani Economy framework continued to implement various strategic initiatives including strengthening the skills ecosystem and employability of the workforce through retraining and upskilling, implementing the Progressive Wage Policy as well as the quality employment agenda and strengthening social protection.
He said these efforts were strengthened through MYFutureJobs developed by PERKESO and powered by real-time labour market data.
"MYFutureJobs plays a key role in connecting job seekers with suitable job opportunities, while also helping employers identify candidates who meet operational needs," he said.
Ramanan said MYFutureJobs data showed 90.1% of job placements in 2024 were in the highly skilled and semi-skilled categories, while that share remained dominant at 86.7% in 2025.
He said the trend dispels the perception that graduates are short of job opportunities.
"While job mismatches still exist, they are largely driven by salary adjustments and geographical preferences, not job shortages," he said.
Ramanan said in 2025, the Employment Insurance System (SIP) recorded 74,841 Loss of Employment (LOE) applications, with about 70% of approved recipients successfully returning to work between 2020 and 2025.
He said MYFutureJobs expected demand to increase in sunrise sectors such as digital services, e-commerce logistics, green technology, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, thus ensuring that Malaysia's workforce remains relevant and competitive. - Bernama
