KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The graduate job mismatch rate recorded a significant decrease to 18.2 per cent for 2023 compared to 40.5 per cent in the previous year, according to data from the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Deputy Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad said the decrease of 22.3 per cent showed the positive results of Socso job placement officers with the support of the national employment portal MYFutureJobs in placing graduates in high-skilled job groups.

"The Ministry of Human Resources (Kesuma) through Socso always strives to ensure that individuals get jobs that match their qualifications and skills. Various initiatives are carried out such as early intervention programmes at the level of higher education institutions (IPTs) such as the establishment of MYFutureJobs Satellite Centres at IPTs and the organisation of the Career Launchpad Programme (CLP) to drive graduate employability.

"Socso also expanded the functionality of the MYFutureJobs Portal by offering vacancies for industrial training purposes to help students get placements and since 2023 until March, a total of 64,836 vacancies for industrial training have been offered,” he said in a statement issued by Socso today.

Abdul Rahman also said the Career Carnival in conjunction with Labour Day 2024 at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) and at 54 Socso offices across the country, which will last two days starting today, will offer nearly 10,000 job opportunities from 130 leading employers.

Besides, Abdul Rahman said Socso statistics for the period from 2018 to the first quarter of 2024 showed that a total of 259,754 workers were approved to receive immediate financial assistance through the Employment Insurance System (SIP) with 80,521 workers who lost their jobs having returned to work and 19,149 individuals eligible to attend vocational training.

While the Return To Work (RTW) programme to help participants who were injured or suffering from illness to recover and return to work, saw 56,698 participants returned to work for the period from 2017 to the first quarter of 2024.

"Meanwhile until the first week of April 2024, a total of 11,101 personnel of the Malaysia Short-Term Employment Programme (MySTEP) which aims to integrate the target group into the public sector, government-owned companies (GLCs) and government investment companies (GLICs) through short-term employment offers got jobs,” he said.

The Daya Kerjaya 2.0 programme which provides employment incentives to employ long-term unemployed and vulnerable groups such as indigenous people, people with disabilities (PwD), hardcore poor, ex-convicts and individuals on parole also received 1,014 employer applications with the involvement of 1,741 workers, with 862 employers have received benefits for 1,447 employees. — Bernama