Overqualification in graduate labour market

The UK’s higher education sector has expanded rapidly over past decades, but the increase in the number of graduates had not been matched by an increase in high-skilled jobs. Many graduates were finding themselves working in jobs that would have, in previous generations, been filled by non-graduates.

At the time of writing, comparisons across Europe suggested that graduate over-qualification was a particular problem for the UK.

The CIPD commissioned this report to examine the available evidence on the extent to which graduates are over-qualified and over-skilled for the current labour market and the ways in which the labour market and occupations may have adapted to the growing supply of graduates.

The report suggests a range of interpretations of the available data, but the findings raise questions about the size of the HE sector in relation to our labour market needs and reinforce calls for investment in alternative routes into work for young people.

Over-qualification and skills mismatch in the graduate labour market

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