Diversifying employment opportunities of urban planning graduates in the period of uncertainty

Abstract

Several countries, including Malaysia, have set a long term target of establishing a more educated workforce. This thrust on the massification of higher education has resulted in a new problem-graduate unemployment. The growing problem of graduate unemployment in Malaysia is widely debated in the media and blogs. The Higher Education Ministry, in its Graduate Tracer Study Report 2011, reported that 24 per cent of them have not found a job after six months of graduating. The employment scenario of the urban planning graduates has changed over the years from catering the needs of the public sector, to catering the needs of the private sector and to fulfilling the need of the One Stop Centre or the OSC. The advent of the liberalization of urban planning services challenges urban planning schools in Malaysia to produce planners not only to cater for local needs but also with the capability of exporting their skills and services internationally. Given the diverse scope of urban planning it is a paradox that graduates of urban planning should converge on the conventional urban planning organizations for employment. The paper will highlight some preliminary findings on the employment prospect of urban planning graduates in the immediate future and the possibility of diversifying employment opportunities of urban planning graduates.