PETALING JAYA: Biomedical science graduate Ehsan Ahmad has been working as a supermarket cashier for more than a year now.
“Obviously, I want to work in the field that I studied because it is my dream. But I need to look at the positive side of my current job,” he said.
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The 27-year-old earns about RM2,000 monthly, which enables him to send some money to his family in Kedah, besides paying his rent here in the Klang Valley.
Ehsan is hopeful that things will get better.
“I believe this will come when the time is right. For now, considering the economy, having a stable job does not mean a fancy title but a pay cheque that comes in every month,” he said.
Furthermore, working as a cashier has helped him brush up on his communication skills.
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Ehsan is among the almost two million Malaysian graduates who are working in semi-skilled and low-skilled jobs.
According to findings released by the Statistics Department about a month ago, an estimated 37.4% of college or university graduates are in semi-skilled or low-skilled occupations.
For many of these graduates, what was intended as a temporary job before securing a better offer in a related field has instead become permanent.
Electrical engineering graduate Sara Hasan, 29, has been working as a sales manager selling second-hand phones for the past five years. The job has nothing to do with her qualifications but Sara has no complaints.
“After my graduation, I needed money, so I started working part-time selling phones and accessories at a kiosk inside a mall. The monthly pay was less than RM1,500.
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“When my boss transferred me to their store in the city centre, I started showing more interest in the job.
“Soon, I was offered a permanent position, which came with more benefits,” she said.
She decided to take on the job while waiting for other offers but found herself happier doing the work not long after.
Her workplace, she said, was near her family’s home and the job comes with travelling perks that might not be available if she had taken on a “secure and stable” job as an engineer.
She now earns close to RM4,000 monthly.
Sara said that engineering was an interesting subject, but she has since realised that it would not be her career path.
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“This present job that I have is a nice surprise,” she added.
Entreprenuer Saidatul Syuhada Ahmad Shukri, 35, decided to start her own business instead of banking on her two degrees in mechanical engineering from a Malaysian university and one in Germany.
She graduated in 2012 and had no trouble getting a job at an international firm but decided to start her own company in 2019.
“Obviously, having your own business comes with its own set of challenges,” she said.
National Society of Skilled Workers secretary-general Mohammad Rizan Hassan said there has been a rise in the number of graduates working in unrelated jobs in factories, retail, hotels and tourism.
He said there was a “non-alignment” between the vacancies and the qualifications graduates had.
“While the awareness on pursuing higher education is better now, we should not force our younger generation to study courses in which they have no interest.
“This will add to a surplus of graduates in a certain field. These young people could have benefitted from picking up skills that they actually want instead.
“However, we should applaud graduates working in sectors that do not match their qualifications because they were brave enough to explore and gain experience from these supposedly menial jobs,” he added.
