As per the Ministry of Human Resources in Malaysia, from January 1 to December 7 this year, some 21,532 people lost their jobs nationwide. Minister M. Kulasegaran stated that more than half of those who lost their jobs this year were formerly employed within the Klang Valley.

Selangor topped the list with 5,902 losing their jobs, followed by Kuala Lumpur (4,767), Johor (2,536) and Penang (1,328).

The minister attributed the losses to the changes in industries and the fast pace of the employment market.

“There are many reasons, changes in the market, new industries, and some are just due to work cycles,” he said.

Among the affected sectors is the manufacturing sector, which saw 32 per cent of employees lose their jobs, followed by the construction sector (8.8 per cent) and the financial sector (8.1 per cent).

A significant number, about 7,755 workers who lost their jobs are those from the top three high paying jobs namely managers, professionals, and technicians in addition to associate professionals that require diplomas and degrees for entry qualification.

"These three categories are limited and they also have to compete with fresh graduates,” he added.

The minister also threw light on the efforts put in place by the Social Security Organization (Socso) in trying to get those retrenched back into the workforce. As of December 7, Socso’s Employment Services Division has succeeded in placing 6,292 people back into the workforce, in various occupations and industries.

The minister stressed the fact that with Industrial Revolution 5.0 on the horizon, there was a need to get these workers ready with more focus in training the human capital. He added that the government will pay more attention to this. 

The Minister is not off the point in his observations. With the fast pace of change in job scenario and industries, there is a dire need to reevaluate the job marketability of graduates and make them future ready. Recently, it was reported that Malaysia’s Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) is planning to train around 1.2 million Malaysian workers next year. HRDF will use RM 900 million that will be accumulated by the registered employers.