Factors Influencing Motivation for Employment Among IT Graduates in Malaysia

Background - This study is inspired to support the aspiration of Malaysia in becoming a digital nation by 2030. One of the efforts is improving the employability rate of IT graduates of Malaysian higher institutions and enhancing recruitment process among employers through communicating of brand value and organisational attractiveness with the usage of social networking sites. The interaction of variables understudy is explained by adoption of Signalling Theory and Impression Management Theory. Purpose - This study aims to examine the relationship of employer brand and organisational attractiveness on the motivation for employment among IT graduates of Malaysian higher institutions. It also intends to assess the moderating effect of social networking sites on the relationship of employer brand and organisational attractiveness towards motivation for employment. Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts a quantitative research design and therefore, quantitative data will be obtained and analysed using the SPSS. The respondents are IT graduates of Malaysian higher institutions. The hypothesis testing shall be conducted using the multiple regression analysis. Findings/Expected Contributions - In terms of theoretical contribution, the findings are expected to enhance the explanation of motivation for employment through the perspective of signalling theory and impression management theory. Furthermore, the motivation for employment shall be explained by two dimensions of employer brand i.e. enthusiasm and capability. Additionally, the motivation for employment shall also be explained through four dimensions of organisational attractiveness i.e. developmental value, application value, social value and economic value. In terms of practicality, the findings are expected to improve employability of IT graduates by deploying and strengthening the social networking sites application to deliver employers’ information and strong brand. Research limitations - The findings of the study are limited by the selection of respondents among IT graduates of Malaysian higher institutions. Originality/value - The originality of this study lies in the fact of deploying the Signalling Theory and Impression Management Theory as theoretical foundation to explain the relationship between the independent variables i.e. employer brand and organisational attractiveness and the dependent variable i.e. motivation for employment, as affected by the moderating variable i.e. social networking sites