most unemployment in 2020 yet. Malay Mail. Retrieve from https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/07/14/malaysias-jobless-shot-up-to-826100-in-mco-era-in-may-most-unemployment-in/1884305

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the unemployment rate measures the percentage of the unemployed in the labor force, where the labor force is between 15 and 64 years old and is employed or unemployed. Also, the number of unemployed persons growing from 610,500 in March to 778,800 in April (which was the month the movement control order period first started), before going up by 47,300 persons to 826,100 persons in May.

The number of employed Malaysian laborers fell slightly by 0.3%, from 14.93 million in April to 14.89 million in May. The sectors affected in May were the service industry which mainly tourism, accommodation, event planning, arts and entertainment, and sports, based on the DOSM representation. 

The government expects that with the recovery of MCO, business conditions will gradually recover as more departments are allowed to open in accordance with strict standard operating procedures. This is expected to retain employment opportunities, create new employment opportunities and stimulate employment.

During MCO, many Malaysians lost their income. However, the gig economy has created opportunities for them to make money. According to a Grab spokesperson, “during the Covid-19 outbreak, it undoubtedly demonstrated how the gig economy has become an integral part of the new economy”. For example, during the recovery phase of MCO, more than 10,000 people have joined Grab as drivers and delivery partners. During the partial closure period, the demand for delivery services also increased significantly.

Although the labor market is on the road to recovery, the number of unemployed persons is still high compared to the period from January to February this year, where the average number of unemployed persons is about 518,000, said Mr. Mohd Uzir.

Since the end of March, the government has introduced a number of initiatives and stimulus programs to assist citizens, including wage subsidies, re-skills and skills upgrading programs, employment and training assistance, and social protection.

Theedgemarkets. Retrieved from https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/dosm-joblessness-among-graduates-rise-39-2019

Theedgemarkets. Retrieved from https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/dosm-joblessness-among-graduates-rise-39-2019

According to DOSM statistics, the number of working graduates increased by 6.9% in 2019 to 4.25 million, up from 3.97 million in 2018. Meanwhile, the DOSM reported that graduate labour force participation fell by 0.1 percentage point to 83.5 percent in 2019, while the number of graduates outside the labour force rose by 7.6 percent to 871,400 in 2019. An important reason why graduates are not in the labor market is to continue to attend school/training courses (27.6%) and graduates who are not interested/have just completed their studies (3.3%). The data also shows that the proportion of unemployed female graduates is 4.2%, while the proportion of unemployed men is 3.5%.

struggling to get jobs in Covid-19 era. Malay Mail. Retrieved from https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/09/28/higher-education-minister-foresees-75000-fresh-grads-struggling-to-get-jobs/1907493

 The Graduates Reference Hub for Employment and Training (GREaT) was established by the ministry to assist new graduates by providing services such as job matching, reskilling and upskilling programmes, and grants for further education, among other things. The National Economic Recovery Plan also dedicated RM100 million to the ministry's career development programme (Penjana).

A total of RM35 billion was allocated to the 40 Penjana initiatives to assist Malaysia's economy in recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic containment measures. The ministry hoped to help 20,000 graduates through the project, which included 140 different programmes run in partnership with 100 different businesses. The Malaysian Department of Statistics recently announced that the unemployment rate had dropped to 4.7 percent in July, it increased to 5.3% from 4.9 percent in June and 5.3% in May. 

So, this mean that the pandemic has caused the country’s economic losses and rising unemployment

All countries have suffered significant losses because of this outbreak, and Malaysia also has faced the huge losses. According to the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia has suffered losses of approximately 63 billion ringgits (approximately US$14.5 billion) since the entry into force of the MCO. 

Mr Muhyiddin observed that further halting economic activities would have a significant impact on Malaysians' lives. He pointed out that of Malaysia's 15.23 million working population, 2.8 million were self-employed people such as merchants, farmers, and freelancers. “During the MCO, these groups of employees were exposed to the risk of unemployment and job losses, which impacted their wages, partially due to being unable to work,” the statistician explained.

If the government wants to reduce the unemployment rate, they need to stimulate the economy and increase fiscal measures to ensure that existing companies can maintain their employment levels without further layoffs or cause people to leave the workforce. When all economic sectors can be opened and operated normally, the country’s unemployment rate will slowly drop and the country’s economy will slowly rise.

In addition, opening up the economic field is not a reason for slack. We should strengthen epidemic prevention measures during the recovery period. Only in this way can we ensure the openness of the economy and the health and safety of the people, and the number of confirmed cases will continue to decline. This proves that under safe circumstances, health and safety have been guaranteed, the economy has also improved, and the country is also moving towards a trend of economic recovery.

However, facts have also proved that reopening the economic sector can reduce Malaysia’s unemployment rate. According to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM), Malaysia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in June 2020, and the number of unemployed fell by 52,900 to 773,200.

According to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), as most economic activities reopened during the Resumption of Movement Control Order (RMCO), employment in most sectors has increased. The DOSM report states: "This growth is obvious in the service industry because it is the first monthly positive growth since January 2020."

For example, during RMCO, the labor supply was increasing in June. This is because of that the reopening of more economic sectors including education, social and religious activities.

Although it is right to subsidize the people, the government must also plan national finances wisely to avoid misuse and waste of money.

Therefore, it is the best response to decide to open the economic field according to the situation. With the reopening of economic activities and the increase in travel activities, domestic demand will slowly rise, thereby increasing employment opportunities. Consistent with this, as the unemployment rate continues to decline and employment accelerates, the labor market is expected to recover.

In this way, all areas of work can operate normally, the labor supply is increased, and when the employment rate rises, the unemployment rate will fall. As a result, the country's economic income has risen, and GDP has also risen accordingly.

 

However, long-term unemployment will increase the country’s unemployment rate. Moreover, graduates can use the knowledge and skills they have learned to join the corresponding industry to contribute to society. When graduates choose to remain unemployed for a long time, it will be a loss for the country. Because the skills and knowledge mastered by graduates can increase the country’s production and improve the country’s economy. When they fail to join the corresponding profession in time, the country faces the burial of talents and the loss of the ability to improve the economy.

Therefore, graduates can choose short-term unemployment in order to find suitable jobs, but they cannot fall into long-term unemployment. Because this will not only bring losses to ourselves, but also to the country. Moreover, when they are unemployed, graduates have zero income, which will increase the financial burden of parents.

The government also chose to give aid in order to prevent the country from continuing to be in trouble. The Graduate Employment and Training Reference Center (GREaT) has been established to assist new graduates by providing services such as job matching, re-skills and skills upgrading programs, and continuing education grants. The National Economic Recovery Plan also allocated RM100 million for the Ministry’s Career Development Program (Penjana). A total of RM35 billion was allocated to 40 Penjana projects to assist the Malaysian economy in recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic containment measures. The ministry hopes to help 20,000 graduates through the project, which includes 140 different programs in cooperation with 100 different companies.

However, increased more labor supply would be the best solution to the unemployment of graduates. In this way, the country is expected to not be in a state of loss all the time, and it can slowly recover its economy.