KUALA LUMPUR: Everyone has to play a part in addressing challenges due to youth unemployment, because if it is left unchecked, it could affect all levels of society.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this while admitting that youth unemployment could lead to waste in the country’s human resources and potential and, in a worst case scenario, lead to civil unrest.
He admitted that the demands of the current working world had evolved, and workers needed to be creative, adaptable, agile and prepared to expect the unexpected; which were traits that youths may not have.
“Not many young Malaysians are equipped for this, and, as such, many do not get hired or, worse, are unable to pick themselves up.
“When a big proportion of our youth are unemployed, we lose their potential contribution to the country, waste the investment we have made in their education, and create a fertile ground for discontent and instability.
“We cannot let that happen. All we need to do is to look towards places like Hong Kong, Beirut and Santiago to see how economically frustrated youths can bring about conflicts and unrest, worsening the already precarious and unstable economic conditions,” he said when launching the International Social Wellbeing Conference 2019 organised by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) here today.
Dr Mahathir said this was why the government was implementing the Malaysia@Work iniative for youths and women, which was announced in the 2020 federal budget last month.
When tabling the federal budget on Oct 11, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said that RM6.5 billion was being allocated for the initiative, which was expected to create more than 350,000 job opportunities for Malaysians in five years’ time, while reducing the number of jobs held by foreign workers by 130,000.
Dr Mahathir said there was a need to have a uniquely Malaysian methodology of tackling unemployment.
“It will take a Malaysian solution, and a Malaysian team, to solve this Malaysian problem.
“#MalaysiaKerja, or Malaysia@Work, is the Malaysian answer to resolving employment challenges in the marketplace.
“Through this hiring incentive for employers, we want to connect ready, willing and able talent to jobs with dignity as we prepare our workforce for the future.”
Dr Mahathir said the programme was targeted at specific segments of the labour force such as youths and women, through initiatives such as Graduates@Work and Apprentice@Work; Women@Work and Locals@Work to encourage Malaysians to not be too selective in work and to consider 3D (Dignified, Dynamic and Desirable) jobs.
“As Malaysia aspires towards developed-nation status, we must look towards the best models of countries which have made it.
“I truly admire the citizens of countries like Japan and Korea who have so much pride in the everyday work that they do.
“No job is too lowly and so they have very little dependence on foreign labour.”
Dr Mahathir also said he expected all cabinet ministries to help ensure that Malaysia@Work was a success.
“I want to emphasise that not only do I require the mentioned ministries to be personally accountable for the various Malaysia@Work pillars, I expect the rest of the cabinet to step up, pool their resources and give every support available to ensure the success of the programmes.
“If we do this well, Malaysia@Work will be the answer to driving sustainable progress and inclusive social well-being for the entire country.”
Dr Mahathir also stressed the need for corporations to change their old ways or risk being phased out.
“We have Fintech (financial technology) transforming the entire finance industry.
“In the media industry, traditional ways of working are being completely eradicated. Entire companies have closed down.
“Even in the medical industry, robots are becoming better than expert surgeons in performing the more complex micro-surgeries.
“With so many jobs being displaced by new ways of doing things, the one segment of our population that is most impacted are our fresh graduates.”