Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar said the skills mismatch issue needs early intervention, including guiding students to choose their field of study at the tertiary level.

TANJONG SEPAT (July 31): A total of 15,460 graduates or 42% of all job seekers on the national job search portal, MYFutureJobs, face an issue of skills mismatch, as of July 14.

Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar said the mismatch issue covers graduates who get jobs in semi-skilled and low-skilled sectors and earn RM2,000 or less.

Sivakumar said the situation needs early intervention, including guiding students to choose their field of study at the tertiary level.

For example, there are more than 10,000 vacancies in the cybersecurity sector because not many students are interested in pursuing this field of study, he said.

Instead, most students choose the same field of study, thus creating a glut in the job market, he added.

He said the Career Exploration Programme is one of the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) initiatives to engage and educate high school students on selecting the right career path.

"This Career Exploration Programme was developed through a psychometric test to help students identify their potential, which serves as guidance to select suitable educational institutions and careers in the future," he said at the launch of the programme at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Batu Laut on Monday (July 31).

He said the initial phase with Socso in collaboration with Pintar Foundation will be rolled out in 11 selected secondary schools in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Pahang involving more than 1,000 students, this year.

"If the outcome is encouraging, we will implement it nationwide," he said.