ADUN SPEAKS | Yesterday I discussed how Malaysia’s economic structure is failing our youths, resulting in the double whammy of youth unemployment and underemployment. We need to rethink and restructure the economy so to create more jobs for the youths, not only jobs, but good jobs – jobs that give them decent incomes, meet their aspirations and develop them to their full potentials.

Here are the five things the government should do to create an economy that works better for Malaysian youths.

Close the gap between labor supply and demand

Firstly, the government needs to urgently solve the problem of the mismatch of supply and demand of labor force and skills. The allocation of scholarships as well as the intake for different courses in the universities and vocational schools should reflect the estimation of what the economy needs in the medium term of two to four years. The curriculums of the courses at tertiary institutions should be more industry-driven.

There should be aggressive reskilling programmes to help in reskilling unemployed graduates who are now “stuck” with the consequences of the mismatch between supply and demand. A person needs more valuable skills in order to earn more, hence government upskilling and lifelong learning programmes and incentives must be strategic and aggressive to catalyze the upward movement of labor skills and subsequently, paycheques...