Kota Kinabalu: Warisan Supreme Council member Chen Ket Chuin (pic) called on the State Government to publish a Sabah Employment Accountability Report.
It should cover district level job creation, youth and graduate unemployment, wage levels, permanent versus temporary placements and Sabahan employment in sectors such as oil and gas, tourism, construction, manufacturing and digital industries.
“The people of Sabah are not asking for slogans. They are asking for accountability,” he said, adding that Sabahans needed real jobs and fair wages, not investment headlines.
Chen said many Sabahans, especially the young, still struggle to find stable and decent paying jobs despite the State’s reported drop in unemployment.
He was responding to a statement by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, delivered through Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun at the MYFutureJobs X Oil & Gas Kota Kinabalu 2026 Career Carnival, that Sabah recorded the biggest unemployment reduction among Malaysian states in the first quarter of 2026.
Hajiji said Sabah’s unemployment rate fell from 6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 and 71,821 job placements recorded through Kesuma, Sosco and MYFutureJobs from 2020 to 24 July 2026.
Chen said Sabah still had around 103,400 unemployed persons in the first quarter, and its 5.5 per cent unemployment rate remained almost double Malaysia’s national rate of 2.9 per cent in the same period.
He said despite billions in announced investments, Sabah’s unemployment remained so high, young Sabahans still struggled to find jobs and many felt they had to leave the State to earn a decent living.
He said approved investment was not the same as actual jobs and the government must disclose how many of the 71,821 placements went to Sabahans, how many were permanent, paid above minimum wage and remained filled after six or twelve months.
He cited State Assembly figures showing 2024 youth unemployment rates of 25.6 per cent for ages 15 to 19, 36.9 per cent for ages 20 to 24, and 16.2 per cent for ages 25 to 29.