“Are business graduates ‘work-ready’ or ‘oven-ready’?” Employers’ perspectives from Sri Lanka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore employers’ perspectives of business graduates’ work-readiness and expectations of the desired soft skill sets graduates should possess in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach Guided by the interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative study was undertaken through exploring the perspectives of 24 industry experts, who were identified via purposive sampling based on industry type, managerial level and experience. Findings Industry experts conceptualized soft skills either narrowly via the prism of “skills” or broadly in terms of “attributes” and “capabilities.” Further, there is a generalized perception of lack of work-readiness of business graduates from the state universities. Industry professionals prioritized and highlighted communication and teamwork, as the most desirable among soft skills although problem-solving, interpersonal, critical thinking skills were also mentioned. Practical implications For higher education institutions, there is a practical need to strengthen university–industry collaboration via direct (work placements) and indirect engagement (employer input for curriculum design) to minimize the skills gaps as employers perceive business graduates as lacking work-readiness. In the case of industry, sharing insights on the changing nature of business environment and the resultant (soft) skills requirements to higher education institutions are imperative to bridge the theory–practice gap. Originality/value This study, while exploring employers’ perspectives in a relatively under-researched, developing economy context, contributes to the literature on graduate work-readiness and expected soft skills from the demand aspect of graduate employability.