Then last week Susan Adams received a report from consulting firm McKinsey, done together with student website Chegg, which is making that pit in my stomach deeper. In October and November of last year McKinsey surveyed 4,900 former Chegg customers, a mix of young people who went to private, public, vocational and for-profit institutions. The findings are truly sobering. Nearly half of grads from four-year colleges are working in jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. A striking sub-fact: grads from public universities are 11% more likely to feel overqualified than those who went to private schools. Susan would have thought it would be the other way around. The study cites a Bureau of Labor Statistics number that underlines the McKinsey findings: 48% of employed U.S. college grads are in jobs that require less than a four-year degree.
Even more chilling than those numbers is a figure Susan read some time ago that she can’t get out of her head: In 2011, 1.5 million, or 53.6% of college grads under age 25 were out of work or underemployed, according to a 2012 Associated Press story that used an analysis of the U.S. government’s 2011 Current Population Survey data by Northeastern University researchers, plus material from Drexel University economist Paul Harrington, and analysis from liberal Washington, D.C. think tank, the Economic Policy Institute.
Adapted chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor
via Half of College Grads Are Working Jobs That Don’t Require a Degree – Forbes.
Related Posts
It is not easy to be young in the labour market today and skills mismatch is not helping them says ILO
The global youth unemployment rate, which had decreased from 12.7 per cent in 2009 to 12.3 per cent in 2011, increased again to 12.4 per cent in 2012, and has continued to grow to 12.6 per cent in 2013. This is 1.1 percentage points above the pre‐crisis level in 2007 (11.5 per cent). By 2018 …Continue reading »
US Grads / Being overqualified, they express regrets finds McKinsey
McKinsey partnered with Chegg Inc. to conduct a survey that gauges the attitudes of more than 4,900 recent graduates on a range of issues. The mix included attendees of four-year and two-year private and public colleges, as well as vocational and for-profit institutions. The survey primarily focused on students who graduated between 2009 and 2012, … Continue reading »
US / 41% of college grads overqualified for what they do
College just isn’t worth what it used to be. A survey out Tuesday found that 41% of college graduates from the last two years are stuck in jobs that don’t require a degree. Consulting firm Accenture talked to 1,005 students who graduated from college in 2011 and 2012 and haven’t returned to graduate school. In … Continue reading »
US / Almost half of employed college graduates are in jobs requiring less than college education
“Political leaders, prominent foundations, and college presidents have argued that the nation must increase the proportion of adults with college degrees in order for America to remain competitive in the global economy” write Richard Vedder, Christopher Denhart, and Jonathan Robe in Why Are Recent College Graduates Underemployed? University Enrollments and Labor-Market Realities (Adapted quotes to follow). Supporting those … Continue reading »
Canada / Almost half feel overqualified for their jobs
Canadians are not alone in feeling undervalued in the workplace, as a new survey shows almost half of the population feels overqualified for their jobs. The latest global work monitor survey released by recruitment firm Randstad showed 44 per cent of Canadians feel they are overqualified for the positions they fill, while one in five … Continue reading »
Job Market Monitor 
Reblogged this on euzicasa and commented:
the Asphalt jungle knows no civil rules!
Posted by george-b | May 29, 2013, 1:04 pm