Kuala Lampur, Aug. 26 -- Our jobless rate has never looked better. That is exactly why we are missing what is happening to a generation of graduates. Malaysia's unemployment rate is 2.9 per cent, our lowest in a decade. As of 2026 Q1, about 1.93 million (or 35.2 per cent) Malaysians with tertiary qualifications were working in jobs that do not require their level of qualification. More than one in three degree or diploma holders are in jobs which don't need their qualification level. They are underemployed.

Our graduates are not jobless. Graduate unemployment is only around 3 per cent, and universities report enviable employability rates of more than 90 per cent. The harder question is what kind of work they find. Only a quarter of jobs ...