400,000 Unemployed Graduates in Malaysia: Abdul Wahid Omar

According to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, 400,000 unemployed graduates in Malaysia and this figure is expected to increase. This is a serious problem. If this is true then our country is in a very big trouble, unless the government do something about it soonest possible.
Graduates who have completed their studies in six months are among the current 400,000 unemployed individuals in the country, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

He said according to statistics, 161,000 graduates or 8.8 percent of youths, aged between 20 and 24 years, had yet to find a job.

Despite the low unemployment rate, he said the government had launched several programmes to increase jobs such as Jobs Malaysia and 1Malaysia Training Scheme.

Abdul Wahid said this while presenting a quick outlook on Malaysia’s economic status during a Business Leaders Dialogue Session with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, here today.

Therefore, he said, the government was encouraging the involvement of private companies to actively open up employment opportunities and provide industrial training to the target group.

“The government will make sure they have a stable job to support economic growth in a more inclusive way. That is why the government welcomes assistance and the involvement of private companies,” he said. Abdul Wahid added the unemployment rate this year, however recorded a decline in the budget deficit, that has narrowed after the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is projected to grow between 4.5 to 5.5 per cent this year.–NST