The money in Community & Social Impact: first pay and growth

Key facts

• Your first pay depends on the role, the employer, the location and your qualification, and the figures here are what other new graduates reported, not a promise. Across all fields in 2025, 36.0% of new degree graduates earned more than RM3,000 a month, against 7.6% of diploma and 7.3% of certificate graduates.^[1]
• New degree graduates in social sciences, journalism and information were spread widely in 2025: 32.7% earned RM2,000 or less and 31.4% earned more than RM3,000. The most common band was RM3,001-RM4,000 (22.8%).^[1]
• For new diploma graduates in the same field, the most common band was RM1,501-RM2,000 (34.4%), and 59.4% earned RM2,000 or less.^[1]
• There is no official pay figure for NGO jobs. The tracer study counts NGOs with private employers: 71.7% of employed 2025 graduates were in that group and 13.5% worked for government.^[1]
• Across all ages, the 2025 median was RM4,625 in public administration, RM4,976 in health and social work and RM5,990 in education.^[2]

Community & Social Impact covers NGOs, social enterprises and public service. People often choose it for the cause, so it helps to know the pay picture before you commit.

People in this area often start as a programme officer, a community organiser, a social entrepreneur or a policy researcher. Job titles vary between employers, so read what the job involves, not only its name.

What decides your first pay

A first salary depends on four things: the role, the employer, the location and your qualification. The same job title can pay differently from one company or town to the next, so always read the advert itself.

The figures below come from KPT (Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi, the Ministry of Higher Education). Its Graduate Tracer Study asks graduates about their work around the time they graduate. The newest report covers graduates who finished in 2025 and was published in October 2026. It includes citizens from local universities, colleges and public skills institutes, from SKM (Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia, the Malaysian Skills Certificate) level 2 up to PhD, and its pay tables leave out people working unpaid for their family.^[1] The numbers describe what other people reported. They are not a promise of what you will earn.

What new graduates in this field earned

The tracer study groups people by field of study, not by our career areas. For Community & Social Impact we use its social sciences, journalism and information field. The two right-hand columns are our own sums of the published pay bands.^[1]

The 2025 report has no certificate row for this field.^[1] The degree row is the one to read slowly: about a third of new graduates earned RM2,000 or less and about a third earned more than RM3,000, so the "most common band" hides a wide spread. Your take-home pay will be lower than your salary once EPF (KWSP, your retirement savings) and SOCSO (PERKESO, cover for work injuries) are deducted.

NGOs, social enterprise and public service

There is no official pay figure for NGO or social-enterprise jobs on their own. The tracer study counts NGOs together with private employers: 71.7% of the 217,768 employed 2025 graduates were in that group, 13.5% worked for government and 8.8% ran their own business.^[1]

Many cause-driven careers are in public service, education and health. Across all ages and qualifications, the 2025 median was RM4,625 in public administration and defence, RM4,976 in human health and social work, RM5,990 in education and RM2,013 in other service activities.^[2] These are medians for everyone in those industries, including people with decades of experience, so they are not first salaries.

Fellowships and project-funded roles can pay a fixed allowance for a set period. Ask what happens to your pay when the funding ends.

Pay later on

DOSM (the Department of Statistics Malaysia) surveys everyone in work. Across all jobs, the 2025 median was RM1,931 at ages 20-24 and RM2,884 at 30-34.^[2] Those are different people at different ages, so treat this as a general pattern, not a forecast of your pay.

There is no tracer figure for people who start work straight after SPM. Across all ages, employees whose highest qualification was SPM or below had a 2025 median of RM2,203, against RM3,779 for diploma holders and RM5,276 for degree holders.^[2]

How this compares with the minimum wage

The national minimum wage is RM1,700 a month, under the Minimum Wages Order 2024, in force since 1 February 2025.^[3] Budget 2027 announced a rise to RM2,000 from June 2027, with micro, small and medium businesses (MSMEs) with annual sales below RM50 million exempted.^[4] It also announced RM2,500 a month for semi-skilled workers and graduates as a starting point, with no start date.^[4]

Both are announcements. Until a new Minimum Wages Order is gazetted, RM1,700 is the legal floor, so check the date on any article that quotes a higher figure.

Questions to ask about a job

• Is the role on a permanent contract, or tied to a project grant with an end date?
• Is it a salary or an allowance, and does the employer contribute to EPF and SOCSO?
• Who funds the organisation, and has the role been funded for beyond the initial grant period?

What this means for you

• With a social sciences degree, your first pay could land anywhere from under RM2,000 to over RM3,000. The employer and the kind of role matter more here than in fields with a tighter spread.
• On the diploma route, plan your first year's budget around RM1,501-RM2,000, which sits near the RM1,700 minimum wage.
• Government, education and health have high medians across all ages, but they are not starting salaries. Check the pay scale in the actual advert.
• Grant-funded NGO work can be a good start. Find out how long the funding lasts before you rely on that income.

Your next step

1. Find two real entry-level job adverts for one role in this area, such as programme officer at an NGO and an assistant officer post in government. Write down the pay, the location, the contract length, and whether EPF and SOCSO are mentioned.
2. Take that figure to the Day 3 first-salary simulation, where you live a practice month on a starting salary. first-salary-simulation-explained shows how gross pay becomes take-home pay and a first-month budget.

For each deduction on a payslip, see payslip-basics-epf-socso-eis-minimum-wage. For every career area side by side, see first-salaries-by-career-area.

Scope and current-policy check (24 October 2026)

All graduate bands refer to citizens graduating from the institutions covered by KPT in 2025, grouped by field of study. They are not salaries for all SPM leavers or for a particular job title. DOSM medians cover different people across ages and roles; they do not establish a pay trajectory, causal qualification premium, job security or Malaysian vacancy growth. A tech startup is an employer type, not a separately measured salary population in these sources. Do not invent a startup premium.

RM1,700 is the reference in the published Minimum Wages Order 2024.^[3] Budget 2027 announced RM2,000 from June 2027 with an MSME sales exemption; treat that as an announcement until a new instrument and implementing guidance establish the applicable scope and effective date.^[4] Check the official 2027 updates guide before accepting an offer.

Ask whether pay is basic or includes overtime, whether shifts and probation apply, who pays licence and safety costs, and when progression is reviewed.