




































American International Journal of Social Science Research 

Vol. 10, No. 1; 2021 

ISSN 2576-103X   E-ISSN 2576-1048 

Published by CRIBFB, USA 

1 

 

UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS AMONG FRESH GRADUATES 
 

Dr. Nor Azilah Husin 

Associate Professor and Deputy Dean 

Faculty of Business and Accountancy  

Universiti Selangor 

40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia  

E-mail: nor_azilah@unisel.edu.my 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1513-8550 
 

Dr. Salina Rasli 

Senior Lecturer 

Faculty of Business and Accountancy 

Universiti Selangor, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 

E-mail: rsalina@unisel.edu.my 

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2086-380X 

 

Murugan Shri Ganesh Kumar 

Faculty of Business and Accountancy 

Universiti Selangor, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia  

E-mail: lengchaiimurugan@gmail.com 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9679-9544 

 

Ganeswary Suppiah 

Department of Administrative Management and Human Resource 

 Faculty of Business and Accountancy 

Universiti Selangor, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia  

E-mail: ganeswarysuppiah06@gmail.com 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-4927 
 

 

Received: October 01, 2021    Accepted: November 04, 2021      Online Published: November 28, 2021  

 

DOI: 10.46281/aijssr.v10i1.1461              URL: https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v10i1.1461 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

This paper attempts to explore the topic of the unemployment crisis among fresh graduates. The 

two main objectives of the study are to examine the influence factors of the unemployment crisis 

among fresh graduates in Malaysia, and the primary determinant of the unemployment has 

culminated in many policy implications for higher education. The unemployment rate among fresh 

graduates increased to 25% in 2020 than the year before, jumping from 13.8%. The null hypothesis 

is that employer preference, candidate attributes, and economic instability have no significant 

effect on the unemployment crisis.  The information for the paper typically originates from a 

mailto:nor_azilah@unisel.edu.my
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1513-8550
mailto:rsalina@unisel.edu.my
mailto:lengchaiimurugan@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9679-9544
mailto:ganeswarysuppiah06@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-4927
https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v10i1.1461


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questionnaire survey method, with one hundred and thirty fresh graduates' participation in this 

study. The statistical approach is required to analyze numerical data using SPSS applications. 

Descriptive analyses such as frequency and simple percentages on demographic characteristics 

were used to analyze data. Inferential statistics such as linear bivariate correlation was used to 

test the formulated hypothesis. The finding demonstrated a significant association between 

employer preference, candidate attributes, and economic instability with the unemployment crisis. 

This finding would shed light on more preparation for fresh graduates' employability who preserve 

searching for a job by the education ministry. Hopefully, a revision in the academic higher 

education curriculum is considered to meet the job market's and stakeholders' needs for better 

graduate employability. 

 

Keywords: Unemployment Crisis, Employer Preference, Candidate Attributes, Economic 

Instability. 

 

JEL Classification Codes: F62, F66, J64, M54. 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Globalization, disruptive technologies, and digital transformation changing lifestyle and consumer 

tastes provide jobs and careers with extensive opportunities and risks (Seng, 2018). Moreover, 

unemployment among graduates in Malaysia seems to upsurge year after year with the challenging 

economic environment. A report by the Ministry of Education's Graduate Tracer Study (SKPG) 

for 2018 estimated 341,311 graduated from 702 institutions of higher learning and General Skills 

Training Institutions (ILKA). This information consists of 20 public universities, 267 private 

institutions of higher education, 33 polytechnics, 89 community colleges, 82 vocational colleges, 

33 institutes of the Ministry of Human Resources, 19 institutes of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, 

11 institutes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, 146 institutes of the Ministry 

of Rural Development and two other institutions of higher learning. Within six months of 

graduating, the graduate employability rate for 2018 was 80.2 percent, with 58.6 percent attaining 

jobs, including in entrepreneurial ship. Another 15.7 percent furthered their education; 1.3 percent 

underwent training for skill improvement, and 4.6 percent were waiting for a job placement which 

only 19.8 percent contributes to unemployment. 

 In 2020, the unemployment rate for new graduates rose to 25%, up from 13.8 percent the 

year before, bringing the total number of recent unemployed graduates to 116,161 (Consultant, 

2021). Malaysia's unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in 2020, the highest level since 1993, 

when it was 4.1 percent, according to the Malaysian Department of Statistics (DoSM, 2021). 

According to Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, chief statistician, unemployment grew to 772,900 

people at a rate of 4.8 percent in December 2020, while the number of working people increased 

by 0.1 percent month-on-month, or 19,300 people, to 15.22 million people (Bernama, February 8, 

2021). He said the country experienced a slower labour demand in 2020 due to the adverse impact 

of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the health crisis had had a considerable effect on the labour force, 

which led the unemployment rate to reach above four percent against an average of three percent 

recorded in the pre-crisis period. Meanwhile, Mohamad (2020) restated that there were 5.8 out of 

10 unemployed people below age 24, and the total unemployment rate was 56.9 percent of 

unemployed female graduates and 43.1 of the male graduates in 2018. The highest unemployed 

fresh graduates are from the social sciences, and business & law fields with 35.0 percent and 2.5 

percent were the lowest of unemployed fresh graduates from agriculture and veterinary. 



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 Unemployment has emerged as a burning issue in the current economic scenario, both in 

developing and developed countries. This common issue is, however, affected by different factors 

in every country. As described by the International Labour Organisation, unemployment occurs 

when people are without jobs and have been actively looking for work over the past four weeks 

(Morozova, 2017). While unemployment is a natural phenomenon, when the length of 

unemployment for any individual is too long, this phenomenon becomes a problem. Tengku 

Kamarul Bahrim, Hassan Azahari, Zulkarnal, Sallehhudin, and Mohd Yusop (2019) detected 

several consequences of unemployment indirectly among the graduates. Firstly, unemployment 

could lead to criminal activities as unemployed people have lost their support for living. Apart 

from that, mental health can also be affected due to stress and pressures. Lastly, unemployment 

could also be affected by the marriage or family of the unemployed person as money and income 

are very important.  

 Moreover, students at the college usually attend their institution and graduate within a 

specific time. Although graduates want to have moderate incomes based on investment returns, 

they often face unemployment following graduation. Unemployment can happen in the short or 

long term. Natural processes that someone graduates move from one job to another or moving 

from school to the job market is only valid unemployment in the short time. Meanwhile, new 

graduates entered the workforce and were not gainfully employed for several reasons are long-

term unemployment (Rajoo, 2016). This scenario reflects how this situation generates competition 

between graduates who have long graduated but are not employed and have just graduated and 

looked for a job.  

 Verhaest, Bogaert, Dereymaeker, Mestdagh, and Baert (2018) pronounce the 

unemployment crisis issues among fresh graduates in how employers are stereotyped as more 

likely to prioritize the candidates who have working experience against highly qualified fresh 

graduates but for experience only in theory. Hence, this attitude of employers who prefer this 

experience had caused many unemployed graduates. Thus, the main objective of this study is to 

investigate the determinants of the unemployment crisis so that it will help fresh graduates find a 

fit job and help them enhance some skills required by the job market. Hopefully, the organization 

or government should take necessary actions to encourage the unemployed to improve the 

employment opportunities in reducing the unemployment rate. 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

Unemployment Crisis 

Almost no consideration has been paid to real the meaning of unemployment. However, it creates 

the impression that most occupation-centered grant compares unemployment to the absence of 

paid work (O'Halloran et al., 2018). Unemployment is described as people who have no job, are 

actively searching for work, and currently available for work. People who were temporarily laid 

off and waited to be transferred to the position are also counted in unemployment—high 

unemployment results in resource wastage and economic misery. Unemployment is one of the 

nation's key issues, whether it is a developed and prosperous country or a poor one. However, 

while unemployment is a natural occurrence, and this occurrence becomes an issue when the 

period of unemployment is too long for anyone, particularly for fresh graduates. Hossain (2018) 

argues that if an unemployment issue is not resolved, the contribution to the unemployed 

graduates, nation, society, and even the country will undoubtedly grow. Unemployment is a key 

concern and represents one nation's below-utilization of energy. All people who are jobless, open 

to working, and looking for jobs are unemployed. Hwang (2017) postulated that college students 



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usually attend their institution and graduate within a specific time frame. While graduates want to 

have sufficient incomes based on investment return, they sometimes face unemployment after 

graduation. Unemployment is detrimental to the individual because it leads to financial deficits 

based on college debts and educational expenses. If graduates do not have the essential skills to 

meet employers' needs, then the unemployment rate will increase unnecessarily. 

 Many people were mourning and traumatised due to the beginning of this era of global 

unemployment, which is related causally and temporally to a severe loss of life and disease. The 

first step in creating a strategic plan for unemployment in the COVID-19 period is defining the 

essence of this phase of failure in so many vital areas. As a result, a significant research issue is 

how different this unemployment crisis is from past periods of unemployment related to economic 

fluctuations. According to a considerable body of research, youth unemployment is linked to poor 

physical and mental health, as well as increased smoking and alcohol intake (Thern, 2017). 

Furthermore, adolescence continues to be a fragile time of life, as recent research has shown that 

the effects of youth unemployment on mental health persist into adulthood, regardless of 

subsequent unemployment experiences. 

 

Employer Preferences 

Employers prefer the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) from fresh graduates 

(Belwal, Priyadarshi, & Al Fazari, 2017). Their preference for KSA demands the quality of 

education for entering a dwindling job market. Employers are always hiring unemployed graduates 

based on their CGPA marks, gender, age, culture, and race (Amen, 2014). They have some 

perceptions about the unemployed graduates as some of them cannot be the best performer to their 

organization. They feared hiring them for the previous issues that happened with fresh graduates. 

And employers have more own rules to engage their employees (Mulders, 2019). For example, the 

manager hired the best Employer, such as a topper at university with a high CGPA. Attitudes of 

employers who prefer this experience caused many unemployed graduates.  

 Moreover, some employers hire an employee who discriminates of age. Most of them have 

the perception that young employees can work fast, more energetic, and complete the task on time. 

The employers are quickly judging the fresh graduates' attitudes from their first view at resume 

and interview. Rajoo (2016) reiterated that a self-confident attitude would gain graduates' 

knowledge and skills in a work area. Through the experience gained, graduates need to think about 

solving a problem efficiently and increase productivity. Employers' market demand expects job 

candidates' eager graduates and highly motivated, confident, try to develop their careers and 

improve productivity. When recruiting a new employee, many employers have a clear preference 

for younger employees, while preferences for older workers are uncommon (Mulders, 2019). 

Employer age of retirement patterns is linked to a reduced selection for younger jobs across the 

board in all job decisions. Employers who are more optimistic about older workers' soft skills (such 

as consistency and interpersonal skills) and not their strong qualities (such as physical ability and 

desire to learn) score more senior employees more favourably for recruiting and training full-time 

jobs. Social norms and stereotypes have been shown in the literature to harm older workers' job 

prospects and behaviour. Social expectations on when to retire can affect older workers' longevity 

and organisations' support for working past the traditional retirement age (Mulders, 2019). Mncayi, 

(2016) study stated that unemployment happens because employers are more willing to hire 

workers with experience. Fresh graduates with no experience are stay behind and cause 

unemployed. Based on this argument, the researchers formulated the following hypothesis: 

H1: There is a significant influence of employer preference towards unemployment crisis. 



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Candidate Attributes 

Unemployment is dreadful for young individuals and communities as a whole; nevertheless, the 

adverse effects of unemployment rates are generally correlated with longer-term unemployment 

rather than unemployment itself (O'Higgins, 2016). Young people have felt the most damaging 

effects of the recession in this region. The rate of long-term unemployment among the young rose 

by more than a third during the recession. Furthermore, this is not the only recent negative 

development in young people's labour market experiences with long-term implications. In recent 

years, there has been a growing awareness that joblessness, as it is now commonly referred to, is 

a cause for concern (Verd, 2019). Similarly, the rise in temporary and part-time jobs among young 

people and the long-term effects of these contractual forms are becoming a significant concern. 

 The unemployment rate among fresh graduates is increasing from time to time. This 

problem happens because of many factors, and we are not going to blame the company only, but 

the candidates should also be blamed. It is why because the author fined the reason why 

unemployment among fresh graduates happens. Candidates themselves are one reason why 

unemployment among fresh graduates happens (Jayasingam, 2018). Some candidates being picky 

in choosing their job, especially if they have graduated with a bachelor or master. They tend to 

look for a high-position job. But to get the highest position, candidates need to have a working 

experience, but most fresh graduates do not have it. 

 Additionally, employers prefer skills and experience, capabilities, personal qualities, and 

skills beyond educational background and are in line with current labour market demands 

(Suppramaniam, 2019). These graduates are too demanding; they tend to reject all the low 

positions and willing to be unemployed people until they get what they want. This gap between 

skills needed in the workforce and individuals' skills addresses doubts regarding societies' ability 

to capitalise on employees (Pheko & Molefhe, 2017). Therefore, the researchers designed the 

following hypothesis: 

H2: There is a significant influence of the candidate attribute on the unemployment crisis. 

 

Economic Instability 

During economic recessions, getting employed will be challenging where human skills will 

compete with the new technologies. Most employers chose machines as their workers to decrease 

inflation to serve their workers (Tengku Kamarul Bahrim, 2019). He agrees that most companies, 

especially the factories, would instead choose machines compared to the human workforce where 

they could decrease the payment of workers and increase the volume of productions. From an 

economic perspective, being over-educated in the labor market exemplifies graduates who exceed 

the socially optimal level of education. According to the law of labour supply and demand, they 

should get a job regardless of their educational attainment. It is at this point that conflicts occur. 

While the group wants to earn more returns to balance educational costs, ordinary workplaces that 

require lower academic requirements do not provide sufficient salaries or benefits to make up for 

the opportunity cost of education (Hwang, 2017).  

 When the economy's regular activity is interrupted, economic uncertainty exists. Instability 

erodes interest, resulting in lower investment, lower consumption, lower productivity, and higher 

unemployment. Commodity price swings, interest rate fluctuations, confidence levels, stock 

market crashes, and black swan events such as the Covid19 pandemic may contribute to economic 

uncertainty (Pettinger, 2020). While Vo (2019) reported that increased income inequality harms 

economic development, meaning it leads to a decline in economic growth, particularly in middle-



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income countries. The implications of this situation could lower the country's productivity and 

even cause a slowdown in national development, resulting in job losses.  

 Unemployment is traditionally thought to be either a business failure or a market feature 

(Tcherneva, 2017). The former is caused by market flaws like pay rigidities, quest frictions, and 

matching issues. The latter is a macroeconomic situation that is assumed to emerge spontaneously 

from market forces, such as the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment. Globalization 

and the reduction of manufacturing jobs were mostly cited as contributing factors to the problem's 

unavoidable consequence. The general opinion is that some degree of unemployment will always 

exist, probably growing. Substantial economic hardship, especially unemployment and 

underemployment, has resulted in a slew of socioeconomic and health issues, all of which have 

contributed to the rise in mortality. However, the relationship between poverty and dying is even 

stronger (Case, 2015). Based on the above scenario, therefore, the researchers articulated the 

following hypothesis: 

H3: There is a significant influence of economic instability on the unemployment crisis. 

 

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK 

A research framework has been established between the independent variables and the dependent 

variable, illustrated in Fig. 1. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. Research framework 

 

METHODOLOGY 

Research Design 
Research design is a form of the procedure of information collection and analysis of the research. 

This study focused on the three key variables central to the unemployment crisis: employer's 

preferences, candidate's attributes, and economic instability among fresh graduates in Selangor. 

This study used the deductive method, starting with the hypothesis and ends result would be 

confirmed or rejected. A quantitative research approach was used in this study, which is a 

descriptive and cross-sectional study. The descriptive design focuses on collecting the information 

to answer the unemployment crisis through surveys in Selangor state. The survey methods aim to 

get answers from the respondents, and the fresh graduates were distributed among them, by online 

Google form including the open-ended question. The quantitative is collected according to the 

established appropriate research methodology and questionnaires and uses research approaches 

such as structured observation, online surveys, and questionnaires to get results from respondents. 

The information is gathered by performing statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques. 

This approach is the statistical methodology required to analyse the numerical data with the help 

Economic 

Instability 

Candidate 

Attributes 

Employer 

preferences 

Unemployment 

crisis 



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of applications of SPSS. The positivistic researchers' conviction is that the social world comprises 

concrete and unchangeable reality which can be evaluated impartially. The positivist model was 

predominant in friendly and instructive exploration by giving the significance of utilizing 

government sanctioned tests and precise perception, try review information, and measurable 

examination (Rahman, 2017). Therefore, the quantitative research method is quite influential. 

 

Data Collection 

The survey instrument aimed to identify the relationships between employers' preference, 

candidates' attributes, and economic instability and unemployment among graduates. The selection 

of the group of respondents was made through random sampling of fresh graduates. The 

questionnaires have been distributed to 130 respondents. All questionnaires were found to be 

usable for the analysis, obtaining a 100% of response rate. The questionnaire consists of six 

sections, where the first section A addressed respondent demographics, followed by questions 

Section B relating to the unemployment crisis, the third section, C, is a question about Employer's 

preference, for section D is about candidate's attributes and the fifth section E considered about 

economic instability, which made use of a Likert scale one to seven ranging from "strongly 

disagree" to "strongly agree." The respondents of this study were requested to indicate their level 

of perceptions on a 7-point Likert Scale, ranging from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree 

(7). Finstad (2010) contended that 7-point scale Likert items are more suitable for electronically 

transmitted and otherwise unsupervised usability questionnaires since they offer a more precise 

indicator of a participant's accurate evaluation. The set of questionnaires is formulated based on 

the chosen variables from the previous studies: unemployment crisis (Longe, 2017), employer's 

preferences (Mncayi, 2016), candidate's attributes (Hossain, 2018), and economic instability 

(Hwang, 2017). 

 

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 

Based on Table 1, the males (47.7%) are slightly less than the female respondents (52.3%). The 

highest age group is from 24 to 28 (years old) (45.4%), showing those who have just graduated, 

followed by the group category of those from the age of 19 to 23 (years old) (33.1%). For the race 

group, the Indian (48.5%) led the way and followed by the Malay (23.8%) and the Chinese 

(20.8%). The majority of the respondents' qualification is from the bachelor's degree group 

(60.0%), followed by a diploma or STPM holders (20.0%). Only (17.7%) of the respondents come 

from master's degree groups. The results of the duration of the unemployed group of respondents 

show that (49.2%) have been categorized as less than 6-month unemployed group, (37.7%) less 

than the 18-month unemployed group, and (10.8%) less than the 12-month are an unemployed 

group—the type of institution group of respondents shows. Almost two-thirds of the respondents 

(63.8%) are from a private university. The rest (36.2%) are from a public university. Most of the 

respondents are from (53.8%) of the business and accountancy field. It is followed by (17.7%) 

from arts, and social, (10.8%) from the education field, and (9.2%) from other groups (8.5%) are 

from the technical. Therefore, based on the descriptive analysis, all the respondents seem 

appropriate to participate in this study. 

 

 

 

 

 



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Table 1. Demographic Profile 

 

Characteristics Frequency % 

Gender 62 47.7 

Male 68 52.3 

Female   

Age   

19-23 43 33.1 

24-28 59 45.4 

29-33 26 20.0 

34-38 2 1.5 

Race   

Malay 31 23.8 

Chinese 27 20.8 

India 63 48.5 

Others 9 6.9 

Academic Qualification   

Master Degree 23 17.7 

Bachelor Degree 78 60.0 

Diploma / STPM 26 20.0 

Others 3 2.3 

Duration of unemployment   

Less than months  64 49.2 

Less than 12 months  14 10.8 

Less than 18 months  49 37.7 

Less than 24 months 3 2.3 

Type of Institution    

Public (IPTA) 47 36.2 

Private (IPTS) 83 63.8 

Field of Studies   

Technical 11 8.5 

Education 14 10.8 

Arts & Social Science 23 17.7 

Business and accountancy  70 53.8 

Others 12 9.2 

 

Reliability Test 

Table 2 represents the variables of reliability test conducted throughout Cronbach's Alpha test to 

test data consistency. The scale of Cronbach's Alpha test should be more than 0.7 as it was 

standardized initially. The Cronbach's Alpha for the unemployment crisis is 0.885, 0.902 for 

employer's preferences, 0.891 for candidate's attributes, and 0.815 for economic instability, 

confirming that all the variables are reliable. 

 

 

 



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Table 2. Reliability Test 

 

Variables Cronbach's Alpha Item 

Unemployment crisis .885 5 

Employer preference .902 5 

Candidate attributes .891 5 

Economic instability .815 5 

 

Regression Analysis 

This research presents that all variables must have a normal distribution. The absolute value of 

skewness of -/+2 and kurtosis values of -/+7 is used to determine normality, and these values are 

considered adequate (Kline 2005). The skewness and kurtosis values in Table 3 are within the 

threshold values, indicating that the data is normal. 

 

Table 3. Normality Test 

 

Variable Mean STD Skewness Kurtosis 

Unemployment crisis 5.2708 1.38516 - 1.441 1.701 

Employer’s preference 5.0062 1.50677 - .914 .062 

Candidate attribute 4.6938 1.63360 - .741 .346 

Economic instability 4.9800 1.28337 - 1.193 .832 

 

 Multicollinearity frequently occurs when there are robust multiple correlations between 

some or all of the variables. This study employs the Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) analysis to 

determine the presence of multicollinearity. Multicollinearity can be determined using the 

tolerance calculation (1=R2), which requires values greater than 0.1, and the Variance Inflation 

Factor (1/Tolerance) requires values less than 10. If the tolerance value is less than 0.1 and the VIF 

is greater than 10, there is a significant issue with multicollinearity, and additional actions must be 

taken. As shown in Table 4, Employer's preference (T=0.519, VIF=1.927), candidate's attributes 

(T=0.670, VIF=1.492), and economic instability (T=0.510, VIF=1.962) all exceeded the cut-off 

values, indicating that the values met the cut-off and confirming that there is no issue with 

multicollinearity 

 

Table 4. Multi-Collinearity Analysis 

 

Variables Tolerance VIF 

Employer’s preference .519 1.927 

Candidate attributes .670 1.492 

Economic instability .510 1.962 

 

 Next, a linear correlation was tested using the bivariate correlation. It ensures that the 

correlation between the variables is a linear correlation to proceed with further regression analysis. 

The finding, as shown in Table 5, indicates that all the variables tested are linear correlations. The 

results indicated there were moderate and statistically significant relationships between employer's 

preference (r=614, p<0.01), candidate's attribute (r=.633, p<0.01), economic instability (r=.626, 

p<0.01), and unemployment crisis. 



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 Table 5. Bivariate Correlation 

 

 Employer’s preference Candidate attribute Economic instability 

Unemployment crisis .614** .633** .626** 

Employer’s preference 1 .518** .666** 

Candidate attribute .518** 1 .530** 

Economic instability .666** .530** 1 

 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 

 

 In the final analysis, a standard multiple regression was performed between employer's 

preference, candidate's attribute, economic instability, and unemployment instability as the 

dependent variable. Table 6 explained the regression analysis of correlations between the 

variables. The standardized Regression (β), R2, and adjusted R2 were discussed. According to the 

results, the overall model is supported significantly with a high F value of 51.312 (p <. 000). 

Adjusted R square (.539) indicates that the three variables substantially explain the variance in the 

unemployment instability. Among the three relationships tested in the model, the standardized 

coefficient indicates statistically significant between Employer's preference and unemployment 

crisis (β= 0.287, p>.000). Also, there was a statistically significant between the candidate's 

attribute (β= 0.104, p<.000), economic instability (β= 0.321, p<.000), and the unemployment 

crisis. Considering the three hypotheses discussed earlier, all the hypotheses H1, H2, and H3 are 

supported. 

 The finding of this study is in line with some previous studies like Belwal et al. (2017), 

who examined employer' preference for having knowledgeable, skillful, and well-mannered 

individuals. Rajoo (2016) agreed too that Employer prefers those who are self-confident. Mncayi's 

(2016) study stated that employers are more likely to recruit people with experience, which leads 

to unemployment. Fresh graduates with little work experience are left behind, resulting in 

unemployment. 

 For the candidate's attribute, this study is concurrent with Suppramaniam et al.'s (2019) 

study that pointed out that some candidates are choosy in getting employed. Jayasingam et al. 

(2018) also approved that candidates always look for a higher position and better pay. For the third 

finding on the economic instability, this study is in line with Pettinger (2020), who asserted that 

when the economy's normal operations have been disrupted, and there is economic instability. 

 

Table 6. Coefficients in the Regression Analysis 

 

Model Unstandardized 

Coefficients 

Standardized 

Coefficients 

t Sig. 

 B Beta Beta   

Constant .841 .217  3.869 .000 

Employer’s 

preference 

.307 .056 .287 5.458 .000 

Candidate attribute .117 .050 .104 2.343 .020 

Economic 

instability 

.339 .056 .321 6.037 .000 

R   .742a   

R2   .550   



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Adjusted R2   .539   

F   51.312   

        a. Predictors: (Constant), Employer’s preference, Candidate attribute, Economic 

instability 

        b. Dependent Variable: Unemployment Crisis 

 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 

The objective of this study is to determine the factors influencing the unemployment crisis. This 

study revealed that economic instability is the most influential factor in the unemployment crisis, 

followed by the employer's preference and the candidate's attribute. Naturally, when economic 

instability happened, it leads to lower investment, lower spending, lower growth, and higher 

unemployment. The way countries handle their rising unemployment rates would affect the well-

being and financial stability of millions of people and the economy's long-term viability. The 

economic instability leads to unemployment crises as most companies want to avoid more financial 

problems. These developments in international relations can cause fear, anxiety, and panic, 

resulting in a lack of economic stability because capital is a cowardly creature by nature. Secondly, 

the employer's preference factor has also been a determinant for the unemployment crisis. No 

doubt, the employer prefers the experienced to fresh graduates. The candidature should work extra 

hard to show his talent and capability despite his less experience to be hired. The fresh graduates 

should improve themselves in terms of their behaviour, computer skills, and language competency 

to be more competent as a team player in any organisation. As the results also show that the 

candidate’s attribute factor also influenced unemployment. The findings suggest various policy 

implications, including reducing unemployment in the Malaysian economy, which necessitates an 

increase in public and private spending to stimulate economic growth and absorb a steady rise in 

labour supply and successful commercial policies. It will support exports and redirect imports, and 

a situation that strengthens the linkages between trade and economic growth, and thus 

unemployability. The academic curriculum designers from the Ministry of Higher Education 

probably need to emphasise on the soft and hard skills expected by the employers. This study is 

beneficial to policymakers in Malaysia who are attempting to control unemployment. The 

government should expand the number of technical and vocational institutes because these 

institutions will help to reduce unemployment. 

 

Limitation of the Research 

Like any other research, this study has its limitation. The respondents are only from the state of 

Selangor and the graduates are only those who have no jobs at the most 24 months after the 

graduation. The findings could have been different, if the respondents are from other states in 

Malaysia, or other part in globe. Having a longer period of unemployment may reveal different 

discovery. 

 

Recommendation for the Future Research 

The study suggests future research to use a larger sample size with more information about the 

unemployment crisis. Future researchers can explore the different independent variables of the 

unemployment crisis, such as knowledge of the Internet of Things, communication skills, spiritual 

intelligence, creativity, looks, and talent. The future researcher could also study the impacts of 

unemployment on graduates' economy, social, and psychology. He/ she could also investigate the 

causal effect of regulation or government policy on unemployment. These exciting studies can 



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also precede the same research but with new contexts, such as unemployed people who resigned 

and were retrenched recently. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

We would like to thank the Selangor State Government for funding this paper under grant 

SEMESTA-MBI 2020 (I/SEM-MBI/SS/2020/05). 

 

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