What is the Average Starting Salary for Fresh Graduates in Malaysia?
In 2022, Malaysia saw a surge in the number of fresh graduates at 5.92 million, up 5.1% from the previous year. 5.06 million joined the labour force, while 187,800 were found to be jobless. Over the past decade, unemployment figures amongst graduates have increased to a concerning figure. Graduates in Malaysia have not seen an increase in their starting salaries for the past 10 years despite an ever increasing cost of living.
According to Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), the average starting salary for graduates with an honours degree was about RM2,700. This is affirmed as reported by News Straits Times, and adding that only 15 per cent of employers offering vacancies in the range between RM2,000 and RM2,999.
In addition, Indeed, which collected close to 5,000 fresh grad salaries in Malaysia through its platform, the average base salary for fresh graduates is currently RM2,831. Industry research shows that fresh grad salaries have increased around 30% since the pandemic, due to lifestyle and high cost of living, reported The Star. This means fresh grad pay used to be roughly RM1,980 before 2020.
The national employment services portal MYFutureJobs reported that there were 729,314 vacancies between Jan 1 and April 14, 2023. Some 60% of the vacancies offered a salary of between RM1,500 and RM1,999, while 11.4% offered below RM1,500, with 15% offering between RM2,000 and RM2,999, and 4.8% between RM3,000 and RM3,999.
Experts Share that Fresh Graduate Salaries Stagnant for More than 10 years
Darren, Finance & Investment Graduate from UCSI University
Starting salaries for fresh graduates entering the job market has risen by about 30% compared with before the pandemic due to lifestyle and high cost of living, say recruiters and human resource practitioners.
In Penang’s hotel and tourism industries, starting salaries for fresh graduates now are at RM2,500 onwards while in the manufacturing sector, the starting salary for engineers can be RM4,000 and as much as RM5,000.
The Star revealed that industry research showed that fresh graduates’ salaries ranged from about RM2,600 to almost RM2,900 in the Klang Valley and Johor Baru, while it was about RM2,400 in Melaka.Leaders of business NGOs interviewed opined that fresh graduates should manage their starting salary expectations, on top of reviewing their life goals.
But a check in Penang’s manufacturing sector showed that graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) capabilities might enjoy a much better starting point.
Factories can pay fresh graduates as much as RM5,000 if they are involved in the design and development of integrated circuits, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association’s Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai.
“Generally, any STEM graduate working in Penang’s factories can expect a starting pay of about RM3,500,” he said.
A research report by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) has revealed that 65.6% of graduates in 2021 earned a starting pay of below RM2,000 a month
The research was conducted in collaboration between the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) and KRI, a not-for-profit research firm under sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
The institute stated that 43.2% of degree holders had a starting pay below RM2,000 in 2022, a decrease from 63.3% in 2010. A similar downward trend is also observed for diploma holders, with those earning RM2,000 and below dropping from 93.7% to 78% during the same period. In addition, only 10.8% of fresh graduates secured a job with a monthly salary above RM3,000 in 2021.
How to Get a Higher Starting Salary?
According to Jobstreet’s 2022-2023 Outlook on Hiring, Compensation and Benefits report, companies focus more on fresh graduates’ interview performance, field of study and attitude shown during assessments to select candidates for hire.
Jobstreet.com Fresh Graduate Salary in Malaysia 2018
So what’s a realistic number? Based on JobStreet Malaysia’s 2017 Salary Report, salaries for entry level positions can start as low as RM800 to as high as RM5,533. On average, however, fresh graduates can expect a starting salary between RM1,800 to RM2,600.
But not all jobs are created equal. JobStreet’s Salary Report indicates that certain job functions demand higher basic salaries than others.
In its Fresh Graduate Report 2018, JobStreet.com’s latest survey revealed an overall improvement in employers’ perception towards the standards of fresh graduates in 2018 an increase of 4% from 2017.
Employers’ opinion of fresh graduates has improved since last year, with an increase in bosses rating fresh graduates as good and a drop in negative perception, according to online employment company JobStreet Malaysia. The survey also showed that 79% of employers perceived fresh graduates as average – a 4% increase from 75% in 2017 – and 13% of employers perceived fresh graduates as bad – a decrease of 8% from 21% last year.
When asked about the standards of fresh graduates in the job marketplace:
- 8% of employers perceived fresh graduates as good (an increase of 4% from 2017)
- 79% of employers perceived fresh graduates as average (an increase of 4% from 2017)
- 13% of employers perceived fresh graduates as bad (a decrease of 8% from 2017)
The survey also revealed a long-standing gap between fresh graduates’ asking salaries and salaries that employers were willing to offer. According to the Fresh Graduate Salary Survey 2018, 32% of fresh graduates had asked for a starting salary of RM3,000 and above, but only 9% of employers were willing to make offers to meet those demands. However, this is an improvement from a survey conducted by JobStreet last August, which showed that only 2% of employers are willing to pay fresh graduates a starting salary of RM3,000.
The employers surveyed by JobStreet in its 2018 report said their top five reasons for not employing fresh graduates were graduates’ unrealistic expectations for salary/benefits; graduates being choosy about the job or company; poor character, attitude or personality; poor command of English; and poor communication skills.
These findings were shared by Chook Yuh Yng, Country Manager of JobStreet.com Malaysia, in conjunction the launch of the Graduate Employability Program between JobStreet.com Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
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