Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-6348

Understanding Employer’s Perception of Employability Skills of Polytechnic Graduates in Malaysia: A Case Study

Mohd Izyan Zuhaili Zainudin, Kamalularifin Subari, Muhamad Afzamiman Aripin, Mohd Hizwan Mohd Hisham

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v13-i1/20878

Open access

As technology develops, employment has become more competitive and employer is selective towards hiring especially fresh graduates. Graduates produced by the Higher Education Institutions must be able to meet the needs and requirements of employers which includes graduates produced by the Polytechnic. However, it is often questioned whether the skills and knowledge possessed by the graduates able to meet the requirements of employers. This study was conducted to assess the employability skills of Polytechnic students according to the perspective of employers. This study was conducted using an interview protocol on employers who have hired polytechnic graduates in their workforce. A total of seven employers from around Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor Bahru and Ipoh were involved in this study. A total of ten elements of employability skills that have been identified include communication skills, teamwork, leadership, ethics and morals, spirituality, lifelong learning and information management, critical thinking and problem solving, technology savvy, entrepreneurship and social skills. Employers argued that polytechnic engineering students should equipped with high competency in employability skills. Employers are not particularly impressed with polytechnic engineering students' employability when it comes to communication, leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving, technology usage, and entrepreneurship, according to data from interviews.

Ali, E., Che’ Rus, R., Haron, M. A., & Mohammad Hussain, M. A. (2018). Kebolehpasaran Graduan Pendidikan Teknikal Dan Vokasional: Satu Analisis. Sains Humanika, 10(3–3). https://doi.org/10.11113/sh.v10n3-3.1510
Ali, S. H., Vin, T. L., & Jack, C. (2020). Kepuasan Majikan Terhadap Graduan Politeknik Malaysia: Kajian Di Politeknik Kota Kinabalu, Sabah , Malaysia (Issue December 2019) [Politeknik Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia].
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342916285_Kepuasan_Majikan_Terhadap_Graduan_Politeknik_Malaysia_Kajian_Di_Politeknik_Kota_Kinabalu_Sabah_Malaysia
Amiron, E., Latib, A. A., & Subari, K. (2019). Industry revolution 4.0 skills and enablers in technical and vocational education and training curriculum. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8(1C2), 484–490.
Anuar, A. R. (2016). Addressing Skills Gap in Small-sized Enterprises: Malaysian Case Study. 717–722. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.08.101
Arshad, A. A., Jidin, R. M., & Mhd Radzi, M. F. (2020). Curriculum framework for employability readiness skills: sustainable industry engagement. Journal of Counseling and Educational Technology, 3(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.32698/0841
Awang, A. H., Yusof, I., Agus, A., & Makhbul, M. Z. (2015). Kebolehpasaran graduan IPT tempatan: Penilaian dari perspektif majikan. Institut Penyelidikan Pembangunan Belia Malaysia, 77–92.
Chhinzer, N., & Russo, A. M. (2018). An exploration of employer perceptions of graduate student employability. Education and Training, 60(1), 104–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-06-2016-0111
CIDB. (2018). Construction industry review and prospect 2018/2019. https://doi.org/9789670997186
CIPD2019. (2019). Future of talent in Malaysia 2035. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, January, 1–58. https://www.cipd.asia/Images/future-of-talent-malaysia-report_tcm23-53251.pdf
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2000). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Management Learning, 31(4), 521–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507600314007
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (Fifth Edit). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and Conducting Mixed Method Research Third Edition (Third Edit). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2013). Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials-SAGE Publications, (p. 710).
Skov, E. D. G. M., Arne, B., & Hansen. (2016). Industry 4.0 and digitalization call for vocational skills, applied industrial engineering, and less for pure academics. 5th World Conference on Production and Operations Management, 2016, 0–10. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/50716395.pdf
Ismail, A., & Abiddin, N. Z. (2014). Issues and Challenges of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Malaysia Towards Human Capital Development. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 19, 7–11. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2014.19.icmrp.2
Jabatan Statistik Malaysia. (2020). Labour Market Review, Malaysia Fourth Quarter 2020. 1–38. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/1_Articles_By_Themes/Labour Market/Labour Market Review Q3 2020/Labour Market Review%2C Malaysia%2C Q3 2020.pdf
Jo-yee, Y. (2020). Covid-19 Set to Aggravate Malaysia’s Skills Mismatch. November, 1. https://penanginstitute.org/publications/covid-19-crisis-assessments/covid-19-set-to-aggravate-malaysias-skills-mismatch/
Johnson, B. R., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches.
Khazanah Research Institute. (2021). Kebolehpasaran Graduan Cabaran fasa pemulihan krisis. April, 1–6.
KPT. (2012). The National Graduate Employability Blueprint 2012-2017.
KPT. (2021). Pelan Strategik Kebolehpasaran Graduan IPT 2021-2025. In Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi, Putrajaya.
KRI. (2018). The School-to-Work Transition of Young Malaysians. In Khazanah Research Institute (Issue December). http://www.krinstitute.org/Publications-@-The_School-To-Work_Transition_of_Young_Malaysians.aspx
Mahmud, R., Boroh, R. P., Mail, R., Abdul Basir, M. H., Fabeil, N. F., Mohidin, R., & Pazim, K. H. (2020). The Relationship between Human Capital and Employability: Issues from the Firms’ Perspective. Asian Journal of …, 2(3), 40–47. http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ajrbm/article/view/10709
Malaysia Prime Minister’s Department, E. P. U. (2017). Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Voluntary National Review 2017. In High-level Political Forum.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, M. A., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook (Third).
Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2018). TVET 4.0 Framework 2018 - 2025. In Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education Ministry of Education Malaysia.
MITI. (2018). Industry 4WRD National Policy on Industry 4.0. In Ministry of International Trade and Industry. https://www.miti.gov.my/miti/resources/National Policy on Industry 4.0/Industry4WRD_Final.pdf
Kamaruzaman, M. F., Hamid, R., Mutalib, A. A., & Rasul, M. S. (2019). Comparison of engineering skills with IR 4.0 skills. International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering, 15(10), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v15i10.10879
Mustapha, R., Husain, M. Y., Malik, S. A., & Mohamad, S. (2014). Persepsi majikan kejuruteraan terhadap kemahiran employabiliti pelajar kejuruteraan: satu kajian kes. EDUCATUM Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology, 1(2), 41–55.
Nadarajah, J. (2021). Measuring the Gap in Employability Skills Among Malaysian Graduates. International Journal of Modern Trends in Social Sciences, 4(15), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.35631/ijmtss.415007
Nesaratnam, S., Karan, S. P., & Von, F. Y. (2018). Conceptualisation of a Graduate Employability Framework from a Malaysian Perspective. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 8(4), 112. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v8i4.13813
Abdul Hamid, R. A., Khazid, I. M. N., Yunus, R., Halim, H. A., & Abdul Razak, R. A. (2018). The emerging of employment gap in the Malaysian construction industry. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1049(1), 0–8. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1049/1/012033
Salleh, N. M., Lop, N. S., Mamter, S., & Abidin, Z. Z. (2020). Preliminary Survey on Availability of Local Skilled Construction Workers at Construction Sites. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(3), 618–632. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v10-i3/7077
Siti Rashidah, M. N., Humphrey, J. V., & Anizahyati, A. (2019). Essential Skills for Civil Engineering Graduates Towards Industry Revolution 4.0. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE 11th International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEED 2019, 1, 137–140. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEED47294.2019.8994951
Syamimi, F., Ros, C., Mohd, S., Syed, Y., Mohd, H., Mohamed, R., Manusia, T., Institut, J. T. M., Perindustrian, L., & Sandakan, I. L. P. (2020). Kebolehpasaran Graduan Wanita TVET ILJTM Zon Sabah Dalam Pemilihan Kerjaya. 1–7.
TalentCorp. (2020). Critical Occupations List 2018/2019. Ministry of Human Resources, March, 1–176.
Tonnon, S. C., Van Der Veen, R., Westerman, M. J., Robroek, S. J. W., Van Der Ploeg, H. P., Van Der Beek, A. J., & Proper, K. I. (2017). The Employer Perspective on Sustainable Employability in the Construction Industry. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(1), 85–91. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000913
Tracy, S. J. . (2013). Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. In John Wiley & Sons (Vol. 43, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.5613/rzs.43.1.6
Unit Perancang Ekonomi Malaysia. (2021). 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025). UPE, 1–532. https://rmke12.epu.gov.my/bm%0Ahttps://rmke12.epu.gov.my/about-us
Zaharim, A., Omar, M. Z., Yusoff, Y. M., Muhamad, N., Mohamed, A., & Mustapha, R. (2010). Practical framework of employability skills for engineering graduate in Malaysia. 2010 IEEE Education Engineering Conference, EDUCON 2010, April, 921–927. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2010.5492478

(Zainudin et al., 2024)
Zainudin, M. I. Z., Subari, K., Aripin, M. A., & Hisham, M. H. M. (2024). Understanding Employer’s Perception of Employability Skills of Polytechnic Graduates in Malaysia: A Case Study. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 13(1), 1441–1455.