ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATION OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS BY OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATE EMPLOYEES IN EDO AND DELTA STATES, NIGERIA

ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATION OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS BY OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATE EMPLOYEES IN EDO AND DELTA STATES, NIGERIA

Background to the Study

Economic and social developments globally are increasingly driven by the advancement and application of knowledge. The changing world of work has been influenced significantly in recent years by changes in technology,as well as in theories of managerial best practices. This development has made organizations to become more interested in talented employees with innovative skills toenable organizations competefavourably with other competitors (Aida, Noralis&Rozain, 2015). The demands of the knowledge economy have placed renewed emphasis on graduates‟ employability and the development of higher order thinking skills. Changes in technology, managerial practices and the competitive environment have raised the level and breadth of knowledge, skills and abilities that employers require from employees. This has further widened the already significant gap between employers‟ needs and the actual skill levels and abilities of graduates who enter the labour pool to apply these skills(Babes, 2009). In both developed and developing countries, the issue of graduates‟ employability is a contentious issue that is debated in the labour market, educational institutions as well as the private and public sector (Bester &Boshoff, 2 2009).Petronellaand Renee (2015) observed that employers‟dissatisfaction with the level of skills and qualities ofgraduates contributes to the growing graduates‟unemployment rate in most parts of the world in recent times. Akinyemi,Ofem and Ikuenomore (2012) reiterated that graduates turn out outpaced the graduate employment rate in Nigeria. This development is as a result of inadequate application of technical knowledge, deficiency in English proficiency and lack of critical thinking skills on the part of the graduates coupled with high technological drive of most organizations in response to tougher competition in the competitive markets. In the report of the forum held in Nigeria by the British council on “bridging employability skill gap in Nigeria”,it was revealed that the graduates‟ unemployment in Nigeria is attributableto lack of foundational skills which encompasses the communicative skills. It was added that some graduates do not know how to express themselves in writing especially when looking for employment. In the same vein,LaoluOguntuyi a participant during the forum reiterated that Nigerian graduates lack hard skills and the soft skills. It was suggested at the forum that in order for graduates to be globally competitive, supporting economic growth and continuing to attract inward investment, it is essential, for the Nigerian graduates to have employability skills which encompasses soft skills and hard skills. 3 Okpiaifo (2016) stated that most people often imply that bad economy, ineffective government, job scarcity are the causes of unemployment in Nigeria. However, having seen a number of vacancy adverts around, it would be observed that lack of employability skills by applicants is majorly responsible for unemployment rate in Nigeria. Okpiaifo reiterated that the lack of leadership skills, good communicative skills, critical thinking skills, personal development skills, interpersonal skills, computer literacy, problem solving skills, time management skills, technical skills and a host of other skills are often times the reason Nigerian graduates are unemployed. Some Nigerian university graduates lack job related skills,requisite skills for employment which include critical thinking skills, communicative skills, management skills, interpersonal skills, decision making skills, personal skills, job specific skills and a host of other relevant skills(Asuquo&Adegbola, 2014).Akinyemi, Ofem and Ikuenomore (2012), opined that graduate unemployment in Nigeria is attributable to the fact that employees‟ education and skills acquired are inadequate to meet the demands of modern day jobs and what employers desire. In the same vein, Ediagbonya and Oduma (2012) cited the report of the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), Austin Oniwon in August 2011 which stated that 80 percent of job seekers failed the Cooperation‟s recruitment test. It was attributed to the fact that 4 those job seekers do not possess the employability skills needed by the cooperation despite their paper qualifications of a minimum of second class upper division (21 ).In times of high unemployment rate as in Nigeria, employers have more choice of applicants and will favour those who possess and can apply needed employability skills in the execution of office tasks.

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