The influence of employability skills on quality of employment in AI-driven labour market transformations: the roles of academic achievement and motivation

In the context of AI-driven labour market transformations, drawing upon the person-job fit theory, human capital theory, and self-determination theory, this study examines how employability skills influence the quality of employment (QoE) among university graduates, with academic achievement as a mediator and motivation as a moderator. A total of 509 recent university graduates participated in this investigation. Results revealed that employability skills were positively associated with QoE (β = 0.359, p < 0.001), with academic achievement partially mediating this relationship (β = 0.112, p < 0.001), and the motivation moderating the relationship between academic achievement and QoE (β = 0.139, p = 0.001). The findings indicate that, for the present sample, personal factors are related to perceived employment quality. The results suggest that future curricula could explore AI related competencies, adaptive autonomy, and ethical resilience to better prepare graduates for evolving labour market, although these elements were not directly examined in this study.