Perceptions of the Stakeholders on Work Readiness Among Graduates from Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia

The national unemployment rate is calculated as a proportion of the entire labour force that is unemployed. It is usually regarded as a significant measure of a country’s labour market’s performance which has resulted in graduate unemployment and necessity of actions should be taken on this matter. The low job placement rate can be attributed to their low level of work preparation. The largest numbers of graduates are produced each year, and business-related research should focus on unemployment. This study explores on Stakeholder’s perceptions of work readiness among graduates from universities in Malaysia. There were 424 respondents where replied to the online survey which is divided by 311 students which is divided to 274 full time student and 37 part time student and 113 non-students. This study utilized an exploratory mixed method design. The investigation seeks to identify the required ecosystem, manpower needs, facilities as well as support system required to ensure the ease of graduate transition from the Institution of Higher Learning to Industry 4.0 and beyond. The study is aimed at ensuring that current work readiness of today’s graduates can be transferred to Industries of tomorrow. Employers place a high value on graduate’s work readiness, according to focus group discussion made by the researcher.