Building Employment Pathways: Lessons from Mereka's Future of Work Employability Training Program

By: Ambika Sangaran Dilshad Begum Turisaina Tukiman Nadzatul Shima Jaafar

Mereka’s foray into employability training and upskilling programs began in 2021, as the country was facing high unemployment rate post-Covid. Our initiative was kickstarted through the Social Impact Matching Grant (SIM) by COVID-19 pandemic Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (“PENJANA”). Since then, we have been refining and expanding the training program to better meet the evolving needs of the unemployed and underemployed Malaysian graduates through the support of our gracious funders: Hong Leong Foundation, Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, and ASEAN Foundation and Maybank Foundation’s empowering Youths Across ASEAN project.?

In the past four years, the Future of Work program has trained over 1,200+ graduates with digital entrepreneurship skills and provided 500+ graduates work experience via incentivized Virtual Project Placement with SMEs. With Up to 75% of our surveyed participants achieving positive employment status changes after completing the program, and experiencing RM669 - RM1,500 increase in their monthly earnings post-program, there are few key lessons we have learned that could help shape future employability initiatives.

1. Unemployed Does Not Mean Idle

One of the most pervasive misconceptions is that unemployed individuals are merely sitting at home, disconnected from productivity. The reality is quite different. Many of these individuals contribute significantly to their families, friends, and communities through unpaid labor, care work, or other informal means. Their time is often filled with activities that are crucial to the well-being of others, though not recognized by the labor market.

This insight has a critical implication for program design. Employability training must take into account that these individuals are not starting from a place of complete inactivity. Programs should provide flexible learning options that accommodate their existing contributions, offering skills that enhance both their paid and unpaid work, and empowering them to balance these roles.

2. The Geographic Dispersal of Unemployed Youth

Another key insight we gained is that unemployed individuals are scattered throughout Malaysia, and a location-based training model is not effective for reaching them all. In fact, 75% of our learners come from outside the Klang Valley (see the chart below), underscoring the importance of accessible, nationwide solutions.

Additionally, we also noted significant challenges among unemployed and underemployed graduates to attend a scheduled virtual training program that took place at a set time and day, over a long period of time - as family activities, caretaking responsibilities, internet facilities, holiday seasons, and even work commitments hindered their full attendance to the programs, leading them to fall behind in the subsequent training sessions.?

This was a significant factor in our decision to run a fully self-paced virtual program, enabling learners to learn at a time, place, and pace that’s suited to their needs. This also enabled us to cater to those in rural or peri-urban areas where opportunities for in-person training are scarce. Future employability programs must consider decentralization, providing solutions that are not bound by geography.

3. Underemployment: A Bigger, Often Overlooked Issue

While unemployment tends to dominate discussions about economic challenges, underemployment is perhaps an even greater issue in Malaysia. According to the latest World Bank Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) report released last month, the rate of skills-related underemployment in the country rose to 37.3 percent in 2022, compared to 27.2 percent in 2010 (The Straits Times).

Many individuals in the workforce are working jobs that do not fully utilize their skills or provide adequate wages. It’s important to recognize that underemployment cuts across educational levels, and it's not confined to any particular demographic. We’ve had participants who hold advanced degrees—some with PhDs. This demographic includes people working part-time, in jobs below their qualification level, or in sectors unrelated to their expertise. It’s a silent crisis affecting a broad spectrum of workers.?

Such diverse underemployment calls for varied content and a flexible approach to training. Programs must address different career paths and offer advanced career transition strategies for highly educated participants, while also supporting those with less formal education who are striving to upskill.

Our experience has also shown that underemployed individuals, who are often already engaged in full-time jobs, require training programs that fit around their existing work schedules. As a result, we tailored our program to run in the evenings, after traditional work hours, allowing them to enhance their skills and potentially transition to more suitable employment without sacrificing their current livelihood. We also always schedule the same program twice, to ensure learners have the opportunity to attend the program depending on their availability.?

4. Flexible Program Design Leads to Flexible Careers

A growing trend in today’s workforce is the demand for flexible careers. This trend is especially positive for unemployed and underemployed individuals that are forced out of traditional labour markets. Unemployed youths and even women returning to work actively contribute to their families, friends, and communities through unpaid labor, care work, or other informal means. They cannot immediately transfer out of unemployment to a full-time job. The same applies to underemployed youths who are facing skill-related underemployment.?

A key component of our training program is Project Placement, where participants are matched with SMEs for a virtual project placement. The program trains both participants and SMEs to work via remote collaboration, focusing on tangible deliverables and tasks that build desirable portfolio and work experience. This ensures learners are able to thrive in flexible careers while maintaining competitiveness in the evolving job market, while SMEs learn to work within a flexible-work environment.?

5. Skill Disparity: The Gap Between Perception and Reality

Another insight is the disparity between the skills learners believe they have and their actual market readiness. Many participants come into the program with confidence in their abilities, only to realize they lack proficiency in key areas when tested against market standards. When testing 200 participants from our programs for their market readiness and skill levels, only 40% of participants had advanced skills. Do keep in mind that this skill assessment is designed to evaluate fundamental competencies suitable for individuals who are emerging practitioners developing their foundational skills.

To address this disparity, we have developed Skill Tests, providing participants with a clear understanding of their true skill level, their readiness for the job market, and the hourly rate they can realistically command. This transparency helps them recalibrate their expectations and develop a more targeted approach to upskilling.

6. Mid-Career Shifts: From Traditional Professions to Tech Careers

We do see a notable segment of our participants includes career shifters—individuals, often in their late 30s, seeking a new path after years in a different field. About 30% of career shifters enrolling in our program come from engineering, law, and medicine backgrounds. These career shifters may well be individuals that were initially forced to pursue "prestigious" careers in fields like engineering, law, and medicine due to societal pressure, eventually gaining the confidence to shift careers in their 30s. These individuals bring a wealth of experience but often struggle with the transition into new industries.

One of our learner, after completing his engineering degree to meet traditional expectations, discovered his true passion lay elsewhere. While engineering didn't resonate with his creative aspirations, it did cultivate valuable skills in structured thinking and problem-solving that would later prove instrumental. His natural affinity for technology and design led him to explore web development—a field that perfectly merged his analytical mind with his creative inclinations. He methodicall? by y built his expertise from the ground up, investing time in comprehensive self-study through various online platforms, mastering everything from UI/UX principles and wireframing to modern web design practices.

Today, he's channeling this expertise into a part-time role at a startup, where he can apply both his technical proficiency and design sensibilities. This transition represents not just a career change, but a deliberate choice to align his work with his passions while leveraging his engineering background in a more fulfilling way.” Training programs must therefore be thoughtfully designed to support these career transitions, acknowledging both the valuable experience these professionals bring and their unique challenges. By incorporating flexible learning paths and leveraging transferable skills from their previous careers, we can create more effective bridges to help these career shifters successfully pivot into their chosen fields.?

7. Inclusive Employment Support: Meeting Individual Graduate Needs

Naguib's journey is particularly compelling as it illustrates the importance of personalized support in workplace reintegration. Following an accident that created a gap in his career and affected his comprehension abilities, Naguib faced unique challenges in his professional journey. During his placement, our team noticed his progress on deliverables was slower than expected, despite his genuine enthusiasm to learn and succeed. Recognizing his need for human connection even in a virtual setting, we initiated more frequent Zoom check-ins. Simultaneously, we collaborated with his Project Placement host, Certify Solutions to adjust his deliverables and create a more flexible working arrangement that aligned both with the company's needs and Naguib's capabilities within the placement timeline.

This tailored approach proved successful – the regular human interaction, combined with adjusted expectations and a supportive work environment, enabled Naguib to not only complete his placement but also regain his professional confidence. His case demonstrates how individualized support and understanding can transform challenges into opportunities for growth. Tailored support such as these are important especially because the correlation between an unemployed graduate's socioeconomic background and their ability in finding employment is concerning. The transition from graduation to employment is not efficient. For individuals with bachelor's degrees from very low-income backgrounds (earning RM1,000 or less per month), 32% are unemployed. This percentage gradually decreases with increasing income levels, reaching 27% for those earning RM1,001-2,000, 25% for RM2,001-3,000, and 21-23% for those earning RM3,001 or more (Ministry of Education 2019b).?

Separately, the mental health implications of unemployment among youth are significant, as highlighted in a 2021 study by Dr Nur Nabila Nasharuddin and Dr Khor Swee Kheng. Their research revealed that prolonged job uncertainty often leads to increased anxiety and depression among unemployed young graduates. This underscores the critical need for comprehensive support systems that address both employment and mental well-being ?(Nasharuddin and Kheng, 2021)

Conclusion

The landscape of employment in Malaysia reveals a complex interplay of challenges that demand innovative solutions. Our four years of experience with the Future of Work program has illuminated critical insights about the nature of unemployment and underemployment among Malaysian graduates. We've learned that unemployed individuals are often actively contributing to society through unpaid work, that geographic barriers significantly impact access to opportunities, and that underemployment affects a broader spectrum of workers than previously recognized. Through this understanding, we've seen how career transitions, flexible learning paths, and personalized support can transform employment outcomes for Malaysian graduates.

Our Future of Work program's success in helping over 1,200 graduates develop digital entrepreneurship skills and facilitating 500+ virtual project placements demonstrates the effectiveness of flexible, adaptive approaches to employability training. The 75% positive employment status change among surveyed participants, coupled with significant increases in monthly earnings (RM669 - RM1,500), validates our approach while highlighting the potential for even greater impact. Our experience has shown that effective employability programs must acknowledge existing responsibilities, leverage technology to transcend geographic limitations, and provide realistic skill assessment and development pathways that support flexible career models.

Looking ahead, the future of employability training in Malaysia must evolve beyond traditional models to embrace technological innovation while maintaining human connection, support diverse career paths while ensuring market relevance, and build resilience while fostering adaptability. The success of these initiatives will ultimately depend on continued collaboration between training providers, employers, and policymakers to create sustainable pathways to meaningful employment. As we move forward, our commitment must be not just to create jobs, but to empower individuals to build fulfilling, sustainable careers that contribute to Malaysia's economic growth and social development.

Reference:

1 Bank Negara Malaysia. (2021, March 31). Annual Report 2020. p. 38

2 Bank Negara Malaysia. (2022, January 24). Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026. p. 114

3 Bank Negara Malaysia. (2022, January 24). Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026. p. 115

4 MyKasih Foundation. (2023). Food Aid Programme.

5 Pangkalan Data Utama. (2024). Pangkalan Data Utama.?

6 Starits Times. (2024). High-skilled jobs scarce?

7 Yusof Ishak Institute. (2020). Unemployment among Malaysia’s Youth. p.9

8 Malaysiakini. (2021). Act now to avert mental health crisis