Misaligned competence logics and the employability skills gap: Global business services sector in Poland

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the article is to identify the employability skills gap between multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the global business services (GBS) sector and prospective graduates, and analyses how divergent institutional logics shape competence expectations at labour-market entry. Research Design & Methods: The study drew on focus-group data from GBS sector employers and university students in Poland in early 2021, offering a reference point from a period preceding the widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence in workplace processes. The framework integrates institutional logics and signalling theory to interpret the mechanisms underlying observed competence misalignments. Findings: The study suggests a systematic misalignment between an academic logic that privileges codified, measurable knowledge outputs such as technical proficiency and analytical capability and a market logic prioritising behavioural adaptability, proactivity, and interpersonal resilience under uncertainty. This misalignment reflects fundamentally different informational bases. Employers in MNCs select dispositional and contextual performance signals inherently resistant to credentialing, whereas educational institutions signal through standardised, measurable outputs. Proactive personality, communication competence, and adaptability emerge as bridging competencies spanning both logics. Implications & Recommendations: The article offers a reference point for research on how generative artificial intelligence may reshape skills demand in the GBS sector. Educational institutions should reform credentialing and curriculum design, particularly around dispositional competencies, rather than treating the gap as individual student preparation. Contribution & Value Added: The article advances person-environment fit theory by adding curriculum design as a structural conditioning factor in person-job fit. It proposes a competence-logic misalignment model potentially transferable to MNC contexts across other national and sectoral settings, subject to empirical validation.