SHAH ALAM - Malaysia continues to record a low number of skilled graduates, especially in five fields namely information and communication technology (ICT), software engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and software development, although these fields offer lucrative salaries.
Industry Networking Centre, Industry Community, and Alumni Office, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Professor Dr Muhammad Hussain Ismail said the demand for experts to serve in these fields are rapidly increasing.
According to him, the number of graduates from local universities was insufficient to meet this demand.
"Based on the findings of the Future Labour Market Research Centre (EU-ERA), there is fierce competition to enter the industry, especially for high-skilled jobs suitable for graduates of local higher education institutions.
"The study also states that job creation by the country's economy is around 258,000 to 326,000, including skilled, semi-skilled, and low-skilled jobs.
"Out of this total, high-skilled jobs specifically for our university graduates are only 127,000, while 198,000 are semi-skilled and low-skilled jobs," he said.
Hussain said if there was a low percentage in certain industries but the workforce demand can still be met by other sectors or through the absorption of foreign workers, it may suffice.
"The percentage of local graduate absorption depends on market demand and the ability of local universities to produce quality graduates relevant to industry needs.
"However, this percentage may not be sufficient when compared to current requirements, especially in high-tech fields," he said.
Meanwhile, he explained that jobs offering lucrative salaries are in fields that require special skills and high market demand, such as software engineering, AI, cybersecurity and data analytics.
This, he said was because these jobs required technical skills and deep knowledge and graduates qualified in these fields were highly sought after by employers.
Hussain said that the salaries for these jobs often exceed the average and can be quite substantial, especially for individuals with experience and high skills.