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The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspective of employers regarding workplace literacy including that needed by the knowledge economy. The authors suggest that in the era of globalisation and the knowledge economy the concept of work and the relationship between employer and employee might change, with the retention of employees now based on the skills and knowledge the employees possess that can benefit the organisation. The authors conclude that research has shown that industrial employers still insist that technical competency is the most important skill that vocational and technical graduates should acquire. Other necessary workplace skills are communication skills, interpersonal skills, critical and problem-solving skills, self-motivation and management skills. This combination of skills forms the new workplace literacy. They also suggest that current technical education and training systems in Malaysia need to be improved to ensure that there will be no shortage of workers skilled in the new workplace literacy.