{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T16:36:39Z","timestamp":1775147799898,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,4]],"date-time":"2018-10-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1538611200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ET"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Available literature overlooks the factors that affect employers\u2019 opinions of the skills graduates bring to the labour market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the perception of graduates\u2019 skills and the employers\u2019 anticipative and remedial strategies.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A qualitative multiple case study is used and data were gathered from interviews with human resource managers in ten firms in Portugal. The data set includes information on perceptions of graduates\u2019 skills, solutions for the acquisition of skills, hiring and training policies, and practices associated with university\u2013industry linkages.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Almost all the employers sampled are unsatisfied with graduates\u2019 preparation in soft skills and other personal traits. Some report skill shortages and gaps in technical skills that result in training costs. The perception of technical skills varies according to anticipative and remedial strategies.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This is an explorative study with a very small sample of firms. However, it is a first step towards further research into whether the perception of graduates\u2019 skills is affected by anticipative and remedial strategies implemented by firms within a particular human resource development system.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>It is argued that the responsibility for graduates\u2019 employability should be shared. Practitioners should learn how to interact with higher education, researchers should profit from insights into typologies of employers\u2019 strategies on skill formation, and policy makers should understand that employers are heterogeneous and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Social implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Universities, employers and policy makers should understand that the employability of graduates presupposes shared responsibility.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The relationship between the strategies employers adopt to access skills and their perception of graduates\u2019 skills is a quite underexplored topic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/et-10-2017-0158","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,4]],"date-time":"2018-10-04T05:10:56Z","timestamp":1538629856000},"page":"1097-1111","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["The employability skills of graduates and employers\u2019 options in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"F\u00e1tima","family":"Suleman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ana Maria Costa","family":"Laranjeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,4]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"key2021041413255176100_ref001","first-page":"79","article-title":"Why do firms train? 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