LETTER | The government needs to provide more new job opportunities to solve the unemployment problem more effectively and improve people’s socioeconomic status.

We produce about 220,000 graduates annually, but only about 130,000 new jobs requiring graduates are created in the economy each year.

This excess of supply over demand depresses the starting salaries of these fresh graduates, thus making it difficult for them to meet their financial obligations, such as PTPTN loan repayments, their families’ needs and high living costs in urban areas.

This creates frustration, despair and resentment in the youths against the government and political system.

The government needs to invest and channel sufficient funds towards establishing new jobs as well as the expansion of existing jobs, such as:

Increasing agricultural workforce

In Malaysia, only 0.4 million hectares of the total 8 million hectares of agricultural land is cultivated to produce vegetables, fruits, fish and dairy products.

In addition, Malaysia has a high dependence on foreign countries for food. With this, it cannot be denied that the food security status of our country is weak.

This fact emphasises the urgent need to expand agricultural activities in our country significantly.

The government needs to urge more Malaysians, particularly the youth, to work in the agricultural sector by integrating technology and modern farming techniques to attract them.

Of course, the government first needs to ensure that sufficient land throughout the country is available and prioritised for agriculture.

The government must seriously protect such land from evictions and commercial projects by GLCs and private developers.

Waste into useful materials

Given that our government is transitioning to a more eco-friendly and green economy and administration, it’s time to utilise our domestic waste for energy generation and producing useful materials.

Organic waste can be processed into an energy source through the waste-to-energy process. It can also be processed into animal feed for livestock.

Plastic waste can be recycled to produce other plastic items (recycled plastic).

Therefore, the government must carefully research and develop the waste processing industry to become the country's primary job sector.

The relevant ministries and departments should be allocated sufficient funds to set up the required facilities for waste processing throughout the country.

The operation of these facilities should be contracted out to local SMEs, with the proviso that 90 per cent of the workforce comprises Malaysians.

Elderly care services

Given that our population is getting older, it’s essential that the government makes elderly care services a vital industry and expands it throughout the country.

These services should be conducted as state-supported initiatives whereby social and medical workers visit and help families with elderly members.

Also, more government-operated elderly daycare centres need to be established, as well as state-supported social programs for the elderly that improve their quality of life.

In implementing the above steps, it’s crucial that the government seriously takes into account several important factors, such as:

i) Enforcing the payment of sufficiently high wages by employers, to enable their workers to live with dignity, especially in today’s economy.

ii) Imposing strict conditions and quotas on employers throughout the country, prioritising local workers in their respective workforces instead of foreign workers.

iii) Enacting policies to ensure that companies incorporating AI and automation provide sufficient job opportunities to citizens who want to work.

It’s vital that using machines to cut costs and generate greater profits doesn’t result in the denial of people’s fundamental right to earn a decent living through work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.