KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants local youths to improve their personal qualities and attitudes to help them meet the characteristics employers look for in employees, such as committed, diligent, resilient and capable of working as a team.
According to the prime minister, other qualities they should have are a strong desire to learn, ability to work under pressure and a proactive attitude.
Dr Mahathir said this in reply to Ma’mun Sulaiman (Warisan-Kalabakan) on the government’s efforts to reduce youth unemployment rate and to help them secure jobs, at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here on Wednesday.
He said based on the Labour Force Survey Report by the Department of Statistics, the youth unemployment rate was recorded at 10.9 percent in 2018.
“Among the factors identified to have contributed to youth unemployment in Malaysia were inadequate skills, qualifications and work experience, as well as unmatched skill sets,”he said during the Minister’s Question Time.
Dr Mahathir also pointed out that unemployment among youth aged between 15 and 24 was a common phenomenon faced by many developing and developed countries in the world, including Malaysia.
He said this was because those in that age group were said to be in the process of transition from the learning environment to the realities of the job market.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said the unemployment rate in Malaysia stood at 3.3 percent last year, which is still in the full employment category.
“According to the definition given by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 1999, countries with unemployment rates below four percent are categorised as having full employment,” he explained. – Bernama
