Employers’ Assessment of Graduates’ Utilization of Employability Skills: Influence on Organizational Growth and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract The study determined how employers’ assessment of graduates’ utilization of employability skills influences organizational growth and sustainable development in Nigeria. The design was ex-post facto with a population of 42 registered business organisations in Nigeria. Thirty-five organisation employers and 492 graduate employees were sampled through multistage techniques. Data were collected with “Employers’ Assessment of Graduates’ Employability Skills Utilization Questionnaire” (EAGESUQ) and “Sustainable Development University Education for Graduates’ Skills Acquisition Questionnaire (SUDUEFGSAQ). Validated EAGESAQ and SUDUEFGSAQ were tested for reliability using Cronbach alpha statistic yielded reliability coefficients of 0.94 and 0.89 respectively. Inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The findings and conclusion showed that graduates skills, gender and fields of specialization significantly influence organization growth and sustainable development in Nigeria. Recommendations include: government agencies need to review university programmes and curriculum in line with labour market required skills; they need to monitor the implementation of internship for students and on-the-job-training of new graduate employees.