SINTOK: The employment rate of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) graduates increased to 94.4 per cent last year from 84.4 per cent in 2021, said the vice-chancellor today.
Professor Dr Mohd Foad Sakdan said this indicated that the majority of the graduates participating in the 35th UUM convocation are already in the workforce.
"Dear graduates of 2022, you are the last cohort to participate in a convocation that was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The employment rate of the 2022 graduates is 94.4 per cent, 10 per cent more than the 2021 graduates.
"This means the majority of graduates participating in this year's convocation are already employed," he said in opening the five-day convocation.
The ceremony was graced by the Sultan of Kedah Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.
Also present was caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.
A total of 6,694 graduates will receive scrolls in this year's convocation.
Fo'ad also said the alumni of the university, which was founded in 1984, numbered more than 160,000.
"In the past six years, the UUM Alumni Centre has found that 1,067 UUM alumni held executive positions or were chief executive officers in private companies.
"In the same period, 36.4 per cent of the alumni were working in private companies, 35 per cent in the public sector, and 17.4 per cent were employed in multinationals," he added.