Thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public Sector Monitoring and Evaluation) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand March 2016 / Employment is a critical factor in development, general, and specifically social development. All else constant, education is an important precursor to employment. Besides university or academic learning that feeds into the white collar or office jobs; technical, entrepreneurial, and vocational training and education although feeding mostly into the pink collar or artisan jobs is an important aspect of education and, therefore, employability. Further, entrepreneurial and related training and education has the potential to create employment. However, little has been written on factors that positively influence employability of technical education graduates. Obviously, one would like to know if there is match between industrial needs and the specialisation of the graduates. The purpose of this research was to evaluate factors influencing employability of technical education graduates in Malawi. The study attempted four research questions, three targeting employees (who are technical education graduates) and these had hypothesis. The fourth research question targeted employers and had a proposition on needs of companies. We reviewed literature to understand the research problem, develop theoretical framework and conceptualise our research. Two theories, theory of demand and supply of labour, and capability approach were employed. Of the three strategies; qualitative, quantitative and mixed, a quantitative strategy using a cross sectional design from a sample of 81 technical education graduates and 30 companies was employed. The results show no significant relationship between employability and the explanatory variables of age, gender, education attainment and skills. A significant relationship (p=0.018) was found between first job of graduates in relation to the field of study, meaning with the right education and the right job match, graduates were more employable. In addition, descriptive statistics indicate a strong relationship for all variables as per the research questions. Technical skills and education attainment seem to affect the duration taken to gain employment. The majority of the graduates were employed in professions that matched their training. Companies have preferences in recruiting graduates. The findings further show that, curriculum, funding and multiple qualifications need harmonisation for effective TVET provision. / MT2016