In these challenging times, more fresh graduates are having the trouble to seek job opportunities as many industries are now cutting costs to stay afloat. The economic struggle in Malaysia sees a decrease in hiring new people into the workforce, limiting new talents to come aboard.

However, one of the few industries, such as the automotive industry is still growing strong. Despite the decrease in spending power by consumers, the workforce demand in this industry is still on the rise.

That being said, the automotive industry definitely sees a brighter future ahead as many positive remarks were made by experts. Bank Negara expects the economy to expand around 4%-5% this year. In relation to the statement made by Frost and Sullivan, 2017 sees a forecast of sales at a growth rate of 1.9 percent.

A car is almost a necessity to many, hence maintenance of the car is utmost priority for many drivers. According to Astro Awani, Malaysia needs 180,000 workers in the Automotive Industry until year 2020, estimated as of now. This gives great opportunities for fresh graduates in this field. The automotive industry is by far one of the main contributors to the national revenue in today’s economic growth.

As the demand for automotive professionals are on the rise, any form of automotive education is vital towards the industry. The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) believes that the growth of the automotive industry will bloom in 2017 despite the challenging economic scene in Malaysia. Purchases may have decreased, but the automotive sector saw an increased in employment, as well as more export numbers of parts and components compared to previous years. Not only jobs in the technical area has increased, even in the after-sales sector, more jobs were created this year.

With a hopeful future and a glimpse of what the automotive field will be like in coming years ahead, this gives great opportunity for the students and fresh graduates in TOC Malaysia to anticipate the days of being in a dynamic industry and to do what they love.