KUALA LUMPUR: Job platform Hiredly is hopeful that the 2023 Budget will emphasise on improving graduate employability through grants and soft skills training.

Founder and chief executive officer Derek Teoh said this would help to increase graduate employability since graduate employment had not fully recovered since the pandemic began in 2020.

"Despite the fact that the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 per cent in 2021 from 4.4 per cent in 2020, it is still higher than it was in 2019. Before the pandemic started, Malaysia's unemployment rate was only at 3.9 per cent," he said in a statement.

Teoh said many Malaysians had lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and as the country entered the recovery phase, the employability rate had clearly grown, but many people were still struggling to make ends meet.  

"Malaysia received a total of RM123.3 billion in approved investments in the manufacturing, services, and primary sectors during the first half of this year, including 1,714 projects. Foreign direct investment (FDI) contributed for 70.9 per cent of the total permitted investments, totalling RM87.4 billion.

"Hopefully, the government will continue to encourage the FDI's momentum in order to create more quality jobs to elevate those in the B40 category into M40. This would ultimately enrich and improve the lives of the rakyat," he added.

Besides that, Teoh said the boom in the startup ecosystem had been a common trend in the Southeast Asian region.

The country, too, aims to attract five Malaysia-based unicorns by 2030, according to the Digital Economy Blueprint.

"Hence, I believe that the Budget 2023 should further drive more startup investments, which will cause more of these unicorns to be created, which will then be the creator of more high-skilled jobs and digital jobs.

"With more people participating in the labour market, it will then be able to elevate the Malaysian economy," he added.