Putrajaya gets some GLCs, private firms to offer TVET grads ‘premium’ salaries above minimum wage

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 23 — Government-linked companies (GLC) and some private firms could soon offer technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates far higher starting salaries, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced today.

Zahid said three companies have already agreed to offer starting salaries of between RM2,500 to RM4,000, as part of a government programme aimed at elevating the programme that was previously deemed as low skilled.

“We agreed with private companies and GLCs that a premium salary be offered that is higher than the minimum wage that is set by Kesuma,” Zahid told a press conference here, referring to the Human Resources Ministry.

How much a TVET graduate will earn at these companies however will depend on their Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM) level, Zahid explained.

“We oversaw the direct collaboration [between companies and TVET institutions]. For example, three companies had agreed.

“So say a graduate with SKM 5 or SKM 2 level there will be a scale of salaries that had been agreed on,” he said after a dialogue with representatives from GLCs and private firms.

A study by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) published last year found that only 10 per cent of vocationally trained workers earn over RM2,000 a month despite growing demand for TVET graduates.

Using the Graduate Tracer Study data collected by the Ministry of Higher Education, the think tank tracked the employment rate of TVET graduates and found that employability had improved over the years.

Employment rate in the TVET sector was found to have increased from 65.5 per cent in 2010 to 87.6 per cent in 2020 and from 2012 onwards, the GE rate for TVET graduates has been higher than other graduates from local institutions of higher learning.

The Anwar government has made TVET a key education policy, pouring over RM60 billion under two federal budgets to bolster TVET learning courses and institutions.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he sees TVET as a pathway for mostly young undertrained workers to learn on-demand skills in technical fields that have severe worker shortages.

Zahid yesterday said that a special programme would be implemented at the end of this year to help students who have fallen behind or are not interested in continuing their studies to Form Four enter TVET.