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Malaysia aims to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020. The government has identified the technical and vocational education as an important sector that produces highly skilled human resources. The 11^th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020) focuses on   the transformation of TVET education. One of the initiatives in the TVET transformation is to increase the employability of technical and vocational graduates. In recent years, high academic credentials do not necessarily guarantee a job placement. TVET graduates are expected to acquire the employability skills to remain competitive in the labor market. Previous studies revealed that TVET graduates has yet to achieve the standard desired by industries, either in terms of job quality or preparation for work. Industries, especially consumers of TVE system, were not satisfied with TVET graduates mainly in the aspect of personal quality. Other studies contended that discontentment was due to lack of workers having the desired employability skills. Based on the review of recent literature, this study provides an overview for employability skills that are required for current and future TVET graduates in Malaysia. The major fifteen skills that need to be mastered includes: Communication Skills, Teamwork Skills, Problem-solving Skills, Initiative and enterprise Skills, Planning and organizing Skills, Self-management Skills, Learning Skills, Technology Skills, Entrepreneurship Skills, Leadership Skills, Basic Skills, Learning how to learn, Working with others, Ethical & Professional moral, Technical & vocational skills.

 

Keywords: Employability Skills, TVET, Malaysia