Examination of Employers’ Expectations of Higher Education Institutions’ Graduates in Manufacturing Sector in Tanzania: A Quest for Employability Skills

Abstract

This study explores the challenges that the manufacturing sector in Tanzania face in identifying and capturing competent university graduates in their recruitment and retention processes. The main objectives of the study were: (i) to identify the generic employability skills required by manufacturing employers in Tanzania and, (ii) to investigate manufacturing industry employers’ satisfaction with the recruited talents’ performance. The study was carried out by inviting employers to complete a survey which was sent to them by mail in 2017. Out of 200 questionnaires sent to 200 companies which were identified through the Directory of Employers Association of Tanzania, 80 companies responded with 80 usable questionnaires which made a 40% response rate. In particular, about 69% of employers considered employees’ inter-personal qualities either very important or important and were satisfied with them, Pearson’s Chi Square = 12.898, P = .012. The study also found that informational skills, inter-personal qualities, technological skills, and entrepreneurial skills were significantly associated with employers’ satisfaction with overall employee performance. However, employers also identified a mismatch between skills the graduates have compared to what they consider as ideal generic skills and competencies required in the sector. The These findings suggest that there is a great need of enhancing academia-public-private partnership in improving higher education institutions’ delivery in order to meet labour market demands and employers’ expectations.