Woman With Chemistry Degree Works At KFC, M’sian Govt Urged To Address Underemployment

Malaysian Woman Works In KFC Despite Graduating With Degree

Finding a job is meaningful to any university graduate. After spending years gaining the necessary knowledge for their desired white-collar jobs, they would be eager to put their skills to good use.

However, underemployment is an issue in Malaysia, which results in graduates picking up different jobs just to earn an income.

A Malaysian lady’s TikTok video that captured this predicament astutely went viral. It showed her graduating in chemistry with honours but ends up working behind a KFC counter instead.

Within two days, the TikTok video has amassed over 2.9M views, with thousands of likes and comments.

Degree graduate works at KFC, says there’s no perfect job

According to the video posted on Monday (18 Jul), the OP hopped on a TikTok trend where users would show their highest education qualifications and where they’re at in life now.

First, the clip shows her walking on the stage, wearing graduation robes and a square academic cap, before receiving her certificate. She attained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and graduated with honours.

But now, she works as a cashier taking orders at a KFC outlet. The OP also captioned the video with, “No perfect job, but riqz is from Allah.”

Her acceptance has struck a chord with netizens who wished her nothing but the best in the future.

Her plight seemed familiar to many Malaysians who shared their education journey in the comments section.

One netizen shared that they spent four years acquiring a degree and found themselves working as a cleaner in Singapore.

However, the netizen said what was important was that the money was earned honestly.

Another netizen shared that she knows of a friend who completed their master’s degree but now sells wafers.

She explains that if one were to wait for a job in their desired industry, they would not be able to put food on the table. Since that may be the case, just getting a job that pays for your meals is enough.

Political party urges Malaysian government to address underemployment

The state of job prospects for young graduates in Malaysia is a point of worry for the youth of Malaysia.

Dr Thanussha of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) published a series of tweets on 18 Jul, dissecting the more significant issue on hand.

In the tweets, she picked out some testimonies from Malaysian youths, many of whom had to find a career outside their degrees.

Although it’s commendable of them to find an income to survive, Dr Thanussha said they should have never been put in that position.

Putting aside the theatrics of Malaysian politics, she hoped that the elected representatives could “take a second” to address the underemployment issue faced by the youth.

Underemployment suggests a larger systemic issue that needs to be fixed

Based on the sentiments seen online, it’s clear that underemployment is a pressing issue that needs to be fixed ASAP, as it underscores an inadequate use of a country’s human resources.

It could also be a sign of other economic challenges, such as inflation and recession.

While the resolve of Malaysian youth to earn an honest living is something to applaud, it’s a shame that these bright young adults have resorted to taking up jobs they’re overqualified for to survive.

Solving systemic and economic issues can’t be done in a day. But in the meantime, we hope that these graduates can find equal meaning in the jobs they serve.

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Featured image adapted from ainxang on TikTok.