* Corresponding author. E-mail address: nurasma@umt.edu.my (N. A. Ariffin) © 2021 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada doi: 10.5267/j.msl.2020.12.002 Management Science Letters 11 (2021) 1689–1698 Contents lists available at GrowingScience Management Science Letters homepage: www.GrowingScience.com/msl The effect of soft skills, ethics, and value on the willingness of employers to continue recruiting UMT graduates Abdul Hafaz Ngah a , Nurul Izni Kamalrulzaman b , Fauzayani Ibrahim b , Noor Azuan Abu Osman c and Nur Asma Ariffin b,d* a Faculty of Business, Economics & Social Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia b Centre for Academic Management & Quality, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia c Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia d Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia C H R O N I C L E A B S T R A C T Article history: Received: August 10, 2020 Received in revised format: November 15 2020 Accepted: November 27, 2020 Available online: December 1, 2020 This study aims to investigate the effect of soft skills and ethics and value on the employers’ willingness to continue recruiting Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) graduates, together with the moderating effect of knowledge on the relationship between soft skills and the employers’ willingness to continue recruiting UMT graduates. The study’s respondents comprised of 208 employers in Malaysia who re- sponded through an online survey using Google Forms. The survey data was then analyzed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), indicating that soft skills positively affected the employers’ willingness to continue recruiting UMT graduates. Nevertheless, ethics and value were found to be insignificant factors on the employers’ willingness to continue recruiting UMT gradu- ates. It was also revealed that knowledge had the moderating effect on the relationship between soft skills and the employers’ willingness to continue recruiting UMT graduates. Therefore, universities were rec- ommended to invest in soft skills and knowledge education to ensure that graduates met the employers’ professional recruitment standards in areas of expertise. © 2021 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada Keywords: Soft skills Ethics and value Knowledge Employer Willingness to continue recruiting 1. Introduction The transformation of knowledge, soft skills, and attitudes required in job recruitments and performances based on the modern economy (OECD, 2011) has extended the focus and emphasis on establishing specialised skills for UMT graduates in suc- cessful employment. One of the skills included in the curriculum is the development of soft skills to inculcate all the market- ability criteria among UMT students, thus resulting in familiarisation with real-world challenges and allowing a head-start in the competitive market. Although thousands of degree holders graduate from various institutions, the procurement of a degree certificate did not guarantee employment. Moreover, the jobs offered by public and private sectors proved insufficient in fulfilling employment demands, inevitably increasing the unemployment rate of graduates from Malaysian higher educational institutions recently (Krish et al., 2012). Based on the Malaysian Department of Statistics, the number of unemployed gradu- ates rose by 4.7%, from 154,900 in 2017 to 162,000 in 2018 (Department of Statistics, 2019), and should be duly acknowl- edged by higher educational institutions in developing talented graduates with the relevant skills and knowledge for the em- ployment market (Mohamad Shukri et al., 2014). Geographically, UMT is one of the top public universities in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia specialising in marine sciences, aquatic resources, and oceanographic studies, in line with the univer- sity’s slogan (Ocean of Discoveries, for Global Sustainability), to become Malaysia’s leading and globally-respected marine