An investigation of industry expectations of industrial engineering graduates: A case study of graduate development programmes in South African universities

• Willy Kiprotich Ngetich Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
• CM Moll Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7166/24-3-589

Keywords:

Industry expectations, industrial engineering graduates, skills level, quality improvement, graduate development programmes, South African universities, employability

Abstract

During 2008 and 2009, post-apartheid South Africa and the global community experienced major economic turbulence, bringing into focus the need for skills development across the major South African economic sectors to resuscitate its failing economy. The solutions lay in organisations re-evaluating their current operational strategies by streamlining their organisations, and adopting aggressive, lean, and cost-saving approaches to remain competitive. The study introduced the need to address this issue by exploring the environments that play a role in the quality of life in South Africa. A qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis approach was used to establish the skills gap between the business market and training institutes, in an effort to alleviate the negative effects of the current state of the economy. The need for skills growth and for cost-cutting, cost-saving, and an optimisation skill