The Impact of Employability Skills on Employers' Satisfaction: A Conceptual Model for Fresh Graduates of Engineering

Abstract

Corporations require employees to catch up with the continuous changes that happened in the industries. Technology development and corporations' expansion globally drive soft skills to become so essential. Employability skills and positive attitudes become the most important things considered by employers for recruiting fresh graduates. In Indonesia, the number of engineering bachelor's required is increasing each year. The manufacturing industry in Indonesia is one of the most critical sectors, which shows by the industry contribution to Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product. The study's objectives are to develop a conceptual model for employability skills among fresh graduates of engineering regarding employers' satisfaction and hiring intention and to analyze the skills gap between skills importance and skills possessed, perceived by employers. The model included seven skills as part of employability skills: communication skills, professional skills, core employability skills, thinking skills, interpersonal skills, computing skills, and enterprise and entrepreneurial skills. Two other variables are employers' satisfaction and employers' hiring intention. The data were gathered through a structured questionnaire from employers in manufacturing corporations employing fresh graduates of engineering from Indonesia Universities and Institutes.