Employer Satisfaction Towards the Quality and Marketability of Polytechnic Graduates

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Employer Satisfaction; Marketability; Polytechnic Graduates

Abstract

Polytechnics in Malaysia provide skilled, knowledgeable, and competent workers with strong soft skills to meet industry demands. This study aims to assess employers’ satisfaction with polytechnic graduates employed in their organizations. The study employed a quantitative methodology, with 178 employers participating as respondents. A Likert-scale questionnaire was distributed to industries and government agencies where graduates of Politeknik Balik Pulau, Penang, are employed. Four main constructs were measured, namely skills, knowledge, soft skills, and the level of employer satisfaction with graduates’ performance in the workplace. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean scores and percentage analyses, in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. The findings indicate that polytechnic graduates have skills in using a computer to process information (M=4.4551, SD=0.7136), possess competencies in information management (M=4.4045, SD= 0.6759), and in technology applications (M=4.3652, SD=0.7638). In addition, they have the discipline in carrying out tasks assigned by industries or organizations (M=4.5337, SD=0.7063), the ability to work effectively in teams (M=4.5281, SD=0.6821), and demonstrate strong communication skills (M=4.4775, SD=0.7067). Moreover, the findings show that polytechnic graduates practice good work (M = 4.5000, SD = 0.7306), can adapt to work situations (M = 4.4888, SD = 0.7149), and dependability (M = 4.4719, SD = 0.7378). This study contributes to polytechnics by identifying aspects of graduates’ technical and generic skills that need to be further enhanced in order to improve educational quality and relevance while also increasing the marketability of graduates. It is suggested that future research employ interview techniques to qualitatively explore employers’ perspectives in greater depth.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this license to share adapted material derived from this chapter or parts of it.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Norhanisha Yusof
AU  - Zamhariah Md. Zin
AU  - Azrayhafizi Matzin
AU  - Muhammad Majdi Saad
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/24
TI  - Employer Satisfaction Towards the Quality and Marketability of Polytechnic Graduates
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Research, Innovation, Sustainability, and Educations (IRISECON 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 141
EP  - 151
SN  - 3091-4442
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_11
ID  - Yusof2026
ER  -