The study examined the soft skills needed by Office Technology and Management (OTM) graduates for globalized employability in the 21st century office. One research question guided the study and one hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 45 office executives and 45 secretaries from chosen organizations in Aba, Abia state. A well structured questionnaire on a 4-point scale was used as instrument for data collection, while the reliability test for the instrument yielded co-efficient 0.79 using Cronbach Alpha. Out of the 90 copies of the questionnaire administered to respondents by the researcher, a total of 84 copies representing (93.3%) were correctly filled and used for the data analysis. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research question, and t-test for the hypothesis testing. Finding revealed that organization and time management; confidentiality and professionalism; strong communication skill; teamwork and collaboration; analytical thinking and innovation; and leadership and social influence are the major soft skills needed by OTM graduates for globalized employability in the 21st century office The study concluded that graduates in office technology and management can increase their productivity, job performance, and contribution to the organization's success by utilizing their soft skills. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that office technology and management graduates should endeavor to familiarize themselves with all the soft skills necessary for them to participate in the 21st global workforce.
Keywords: Skills, Soft Skills, Office Technology and Management, Globalized Employability.