According to the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA), since 2005, one in four university graduates is underutilized in his or her job. The report released in 2012 and titled Youth Unemployment in Canada: Challenging Conventional Thinking, addresses the growing problem of underutilization of university graduates in Canada. The report notes that this trend is particularly prevalent in the tour and travel industry, library profession and among personal clerks and assistants where university degrees are not required yet 20 per cent of those in these occupations hold university degrees.
The issue is not limited to youth workers either, says the report. Nineteen per cent of workers aged 25 to 44 who were employed full-time and held university degrees worked in occupations which could be successfully carried out by employees with much lower education.
The report notes that it is common for many individuals to transition in and out of the labour force depending upon family responsibilities, illness or personal preferences, resulting in the outdating of skillsets and a decrease in employability.
These findings suggest that the labour market advantage of higher education has diminished, despite an increase in the educational level of modern youth. While higher education levels are associated with higher employment rates, many university graduates, most of whom have significant debt, are finding they need to take the jobs they can find rather than the jobs they want or have trained for. The same applies to older workers with university degrees needing to sustain their lifestyles or support their families.
This revelation means that high school students today will need better direction than in the past. Today’s youth need to nurture their natural abilities and skills so that they make wise choices when it comes to post-secondary direction. Students would also be wise to study the viability of several career paths and avoid flooding the labour market with excess skillsets, wasting their efforts and investment.
Students also need to honestly assess their own capabilities. With so many university graduates both young and old looking for work, simply graduating is not enough to guarantee a job; they must excel.
Parents and teachers will need to pay closer attention and guide students toward the right path. No longer can today’s youth roll a dice on their choice of career. The key is choosing a career that not only they will enjoy but that will also make good use of their skills.
