Occupations & Skills Taxonomy

Overview

Taxonomy is the science of classifying things or concepts based on their properties and relations to each other.
At EIS, we focus on the taxonomy of skills, occupations, qualifications, and competences.

MSOC: Our Localized Taxonomy

Our taxonomy is known as Malaysian Skills, Occupations, Qualifications, and Competences (MSOC).

MSOC classifies:

 Occupations e.g. lawyer, lecturer, nurse
 Skills e.g. Adobe Photoshop, woodworking, critical thinking
 Education and training e.g. Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Sage X3 accounting course
 Industry sector e.g. manufacturing, mining, construction

Why Develop a Taxonomy Manager?

 To ensure effective job matching
 Jobseekers are matched to vacancies based on their actual skills and qualifications
 Keyword searching is outdated and inaccurate
 To enable systematic study of the labor market
 Researchers need to use a common set of terms to understand each other

Understanding Occupation Classification and Education Level

1. The information below is a guide to occupation classification by education level and median wage levels. It will assist in understanding factors such as skills gaps, differences in required education levels, and inappropriate fields of study that lead to occupational mismatches.
2. Individuals should possess a minimum of a diploma, an undergraduate degree, or a postgraduate degree to enter any of the top 3 occupation categories i.e. Managers, Professionals, and Technician and Associate Professionals (Executives).
3. Individuals working in the occupation categories 4000 to 8000 should possess at least a non-graduate qualification e.g. SPM or STPM. Elementary Workers (group 9000) do not require any educational qualifications.
4. The median wages for each occupation category are indicated in the rightmost columns.
5. The minimum wage for all occupation categories is RM1,200.
6. Visit ESCO for more information on occupation classification.

Note:

1. NER refers to the 2018 National Employment Returns survey conducted by ILMIA and MoHR.
2. EIS refers to the 2018 Loss of Employment data collected by the Employment Insurance System (EIS) of the Social Security Organization (SOCSO)
3. DOSM refers to the 2018 Salary and Wages Survey Report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM)

ESCO CODE	9 MAJOR OCCUPATION CATEGORIES	MINIMUM QUALIFICATION ENTRY (ISCED-11)	EDU-LEVEL	GRADUATE / NON- GRADUATE	MALAYSIAN QUALIFICATIONS & EQUIVALENT	MEDIAN WAGES (RM)
						NER	DOSM	EIS
1000	MANAGERS	Diploma's or Equivalent	5	GRADUATE JOBS (PMET)	Diploma/ Advanced Diploma/ DVM/ DKM L-4/ DLKM L-5/ Polytechnic Diploma	6,100	6,676	6,100
		Bachelor's or Equivalent	6		Bachelor’s degree/ Graduate Certificate/ Graduate Diploma/ Advanced Diploma
		Master’s or Equivalent	7		Master’s degree/ Postgraduate Certificate/ Postgraduate Diploma
		Doctoral (PhD)	8		PhD
2000	PROFESSIONALS	Bachelor's or Equivalent	6		Bachelor’s degree/ Graduate Certificate/ Graduate Diploma/ Advanced Diploma	4,000	4,814	4,088
		Master’s or Equivalent	7		Master’s degree/ Postgraduate Certificate/ Postgraduate Diploma
		Doctoral (PhD)	8		PhD
3000	TECHNICIANS AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONALS (EXECUTIVES)	Diploma's or Equivalent	5		Diploma/ Advanced Diploma/ DVM/ DKM L-4/ DLKM L-5/ Polytechnic Diploma or other TVET equivalent or professional certificates or license	2,805	3,022	2,948
4000	CLERICAL SUPPORT WORKERS	STPM (A-Level); or SPM (O-Level); or PMR/ PT3 or equivalent	4, 3, 2	NON- GRADUATE JOBS	STPM (A-Level)/ STAM/ Matriculation/ Foundation/ CIDB/ ILKA/ ILKS Certifications; SPM (O-Level)/ Giat MARA Certificate/ SVM/ SKM L1-L3/ PMR / SRP / LCE/ SRA/ other TVET certificates	2,050	2,093	1,946
5000	SERVICES AND SALES WORKERS					1,744	1,695	1,561
6000	SKILLED AGRICULTURAL, FORESTRY, LIVESTOCK AND FISHERY WORKERS					1,800	1,539	1,830
7000	CRAFT AND RELATED TRADES WORKERS					1,919	1,770	1,833
8000	PLANT AND MACHINE OPERATORS, AND ASSEMBLERS					1,710	1,738	1,897
9000	ELEMENTARY WORKERS	Primary Education or Below	1		Primary school/ no formal education	1,241	1,329	1,435