He said this “underemployment” deprives diploma and SPM holders, particularly from lower income groups, of semi-skilled and unskilled jobs as they have to compete with degree holders.

“Warisan is of the view that the issue of underemployment should be given immediate attention,” said Shafie, the party president.

“In 2020, the number of graduates ready to enter the job market was recorded at 260,701. However, the number of jobs (matching their qualifications) in 2020 was only 73,000 jobs, down 31,000 from the previous year. This has resulted in many of these graduates getting jobs below the qualifications they have earned.”

He said the 1.89 million university graduates working in low- or semi-skilled jobs as of 2020 represented 1.89 million opportunities taken from SPM and diploma holders.

“The government is advised to intensify efforts to create more employment opportunities for university graduates. This is to provide balanced equity in the national job market, especially to be fair to the B40 group with moderate or low qualifications.

“It is proposed that the government prioritise the gig economy and entrepreneurship for graduates seeking employment. In addition, contract positions with government agencies and government-linked companies can be offered to them,” he said.

Failure to address this “mismatch” between graduates and available jobs would hamper the country’s recovery efforts, he said.