KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Despite commanding RM2,500 on average, a large proportion of fresh graduates spend nearly two-thirds of their pay on car and study loans, leaving them practically broke at the end of the month, a recent survey by recruiter JobStreet.com found.

Southeast Asia’s largest online recruitment firm also reported an alarming 87 per cent of the 2,062 people polled were wholly reliant on their monthly salaries to sustain their daily living costs as they had no other sources of income.

Sixty-three per cent surveyed said they spent RM1,500 a month to repay their car and study loans, and complained that rising fuel prices added to transportation costs that was nibbling away at what was left of their pay.

Nearly half of the respondents, aged between 17 and 30, said they still lived at home with their parents to save on rent.

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A further 30 per cent said they rent a place with friends, leaving only 20 per cent who said they had their own home.

“This is why most fresh graduates ask for higher than average salary during job interviews,” Jobstreet said in a statement today.

“Sixty per cent said they expect a salary of RM3,500 for their first job while 30 per cent even expected to be paid as high as RM6,500 as their starting pay in order to live comfortably,” it added.

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The recruiter found 66 per cent of employers polled said that they were only prepared to offer fresh graduates a starting salary of between RM2,500 and RM2,800 depending on their qualifications and the job requirements.

“To cope with the increasing cost of living, it is no surprise that fresh graduates are always on the lookout for a new job with a higher salary,” Jobstreet said.

“This creates the high turnover experienced by companies who hire fresh graduates.”