Abstract:

This is a conceptual paper which aims to identify the employability skills that will affect the recruitment decision of employers towards fresh graduates during COVID-19 pandemic.

There are eight employability skills being discussed in this concept paper. Additionally, in order to support the demand of employability skills during the recruitment of fresh graduates, the employability model in Maxwell, Scott, Macfarlane, and Williamson (2010) will be discussed.

Eight hypotheses are being formulated in this study. Based on the research framework, the eight specific employability skills act as exogenous variables while recruitment decision representing the only endogenous variable in the study. There are total 39 measurement items constructed from nine constructs (including endogenous variable). The planning of the future research has been elicited in this paper.

This study contributes as a fundamental or preliminary for future research. The results of the research able to provide insight to the stakeholders such as graduates, employers, and higher education institution. The most important is graduates able to master the employability skills that employers demand which will reduce the unemployment risk.

This study investigate employers’ demand during pandemic COVID-19 which is new and lacking in the global research database. Although the study investigate COVID-19 outbreak context, the results still applicable in the future without COVID-19. This is because COVID-19 accelerate the forth industrial revolution, driving human more reliant on technology and consider the structural shifts of relationship with the environment.