Opinion on Employability Skill Set: Perspective in Oman Job Market

Abstract

Currently, employers finding suitable candidates with the right skills and competencies for their organizations is a complicated process. Employers want graduates with a variety of well-honed life skills. Just getting the job done is not enough employees will need to be able to work unsupervised and be team players, demonstrate creativity and develop innovative ideas. However, in the job market, stakeholders have a different opinion on the skill set required in the job market; hence, this study aimed to know the idea on graduate employability skills amongst top management, HEIs, students, and employees in Oman. This study will help higher education institutions (HEIs) in Oman to assess academic program performance and restructure course outcomes for the expectation of the labor market in the Arab region. This study result will help develop higher education institutions’ strategies to fill the gap of graduate skill deficiencies and to suit the required skills in the industry.

This paper has reviewed and synthesized various theoretical aspects from various sources and applied the Henry Garrett ranking technique to know the opinion of prioritized skills for employability by different stakeholders in the study area. This study will support identifying various stakeholders’ perceptions and finding resolution techniques to meet the requirements in the labor market. The significant finding from the survey analysis is that top management required skills sets are enthusiasm, moti- vation, and independent study skill, and faculty understanding of necessary skills for the graduated in the labor market is enthusiasm, motivation, commitment, planning and organizing skill, students opinion that required skills in the global market are independent study skills, commitment, planning, and organizing skills but employees in the organization feel that enthusiasm, motivation, self-management and time management required in the job market. This research motivates students to understand the skills deficiencies from the employers’ perspectives and enhance their competency skill gap. This study will provide the future path for HEIs and the government to enrich the quality of teaching and learning aspects as per the modern digital world.