Tok Pa: Higher starting salary for grads by mid-year
Minister says graduates’ wages were low last year due to pandemic
THE starting salaries for graduates entering the job market are expected to be higher in the next three or four months with the economy recovering, says a minister.
Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the government was aware that the salaries received by new graduates last year were low.
He attributed this to the Covid19 pandemic, which affected the global economy.
“Last year, we experienced the worst economic recession in history. This resulted in few job opportunities, which made graduates willing to receive lower salaries.
“We want Malaysians to enjoy higher wages. It is problematic when the starting salaries of graduates have not increased for the past 10 to 20 years,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) said after visiting a young ginger planting project at Felda Raja Muda Alias 1 here yesterday.
He said the government aspired to create more quality jobs so that the newly employed graduates could enjoy higher salaries.
Two days ago, a portal reported that Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said most graduates entering the job market last year received a monthly salary of between RM1,001 and RM1,500 compared with the average of RM2,001 to RM2,500 recorded in 2019.
Uzir said the number of graduates who entered the job market and the labour force participation rate among young graduates dropped last year.
Meanwhile, Mustapa said RM10 million had been set aside for the young ginger farming project in the Felda Raja Alias region, from the RM100 million allocated by the government to the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) through the Settlers Development Programme this year.
The project, carried out with the cooperation of Agrobank, aims to increase the income of settlers and reduce the country’s dependence on imports of young ginger.
“We import RM200 million worth of young ginger per year.
“In line with the government’s aim to reduce imports and boost food security, we encourage farmers to plant young ginger because of its market potential.”
He said 132 projects had been approved by Felda through its programme — 63 projects undertaken by individuals and 69 by cooperatives.