Some 300,000 youths nationwide are still actively looking for jobs.

Some are already employed but are looking for better jobs which offered better pay, Deputy Human Resource Minister Maznah Mazlan said in Jalau, Sarawak today.

She had earlier launched the Meluan state constituency's Sarawak Youth Carnival 201l at the Meradong/Julau District Council Carpark, aimed at helping jobless youths.

"Jobless youths should register online with the jobsmalaysia portal . There are currently about 500,000 vacancies advertised on the website by some 30,000 employers and most of them are in the service and production sector," she told Bernama after the function.

"Through this free portal, you can search for the job you desire and even apply online if you come across one that interest you. But my advise is for them to check the portal regularly to see if there was response from potential employers or if their applications had been successful."

She said some 3,413 youth in the state had registered themselves with it and up to February this year, some 628 had found the jobs they wanted.

Unemployment at manageable level

On the problem of unemployment among youths in the country she said it was at still at manageable level.

She added a small number of them were overly choosy in their preferences based on  studies made by local universities on the marketability of their graduates.

"Some shun what they consider lowly paid jobs in relation to their academic qualification. Others want jobs that are available locally and do not want to be transferred to the Peninsular, for instance," she said.

Maznah said under the Tenth Malaysia Plan, the government had set aside RM500 million to train youths in various skills training in over 300 training centres nationwide.

- Bernama