My colleague and I had just finished the above report based on Malaysian youth unemployment in December 2016. The research was commissioned by the Youth Research Institute (IYRES)the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and had received grants from IYRES and UTM. We are in the process of publishing the findings, disseminating them to interested parties. Here’s the summary.
At a Glance - Our youths today are living at the time of crisis. Youth unemployment is a recognized global and local concern. Skills deficit is often blamed for why they failed to secure jobs. Our generation Y-ouths is also a new specimen that the world is trying to understand. They carry values and attitudes so different which have made them the most misunderstood generation. This report presents findings of a study conducted on unemployed youths in Malaysian. The study sought to answer several questions: what are their profiles, job seeking strategies, desired work attributes, and most importantly, their employability competencies. The study also explored the youths’ willingness towards the 3D (difficult, dangerous, dirty) sector. A total of 1,008 questionnaires were distributed to unemployed youths across Malaysia within the age of 15 to 30 years old. 970 (96.2%) were returned and further 844 questionnaires are considered usable. Statistical analysis using the SPSS software was performed on the data. In summary, the findings show that the unemployed youths possess similar characteristics and have reasonable expectations towards jobs. They have pursued various strategies to find employment but without success. The findings also show that the respondents believed that they had the required competencies to make them employable. In terms of the 3D work, their responses are nothing surprising. These pieces of evidence are discussed to answer the research questions. Several recommendations are provided especially for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and other stakeholders. It is hoped that the study provides insights to further assist policies and initiatives towards the creation of quality, inclusive and sustainable employment of the young generation.
