Nearly half of Cyprus graduates over-skilled for their jobs
– Approximately 46% of Cypriot graduates consider themselves overeducated for their jobs.
– A study by the department of higher education of the education ministry in Cyprus identified skills mismatch as a major concern.
– The study is part of a programme funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan aimed at addressing skills mismatch between education and the labor market.
– Skills mismatch and overeducation are major challenges across Europe, not just in Cyprus.
– The study quotes the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) on the need to align individuals with appropriate skills to suitable jobs.
– Various types of skills mismatches include overeducation, undereducation, horizontal mismatch, over-skilling, and skills obsolescence.
– National data on the type and extent of skills mismatches in Cyprus are limited.
– The study aims to collect data on graduates’ pathways after higher education and the labor market’s needs for knowledge and skills.
– Undereducation is less of a problem, with a small percentage of graduates reporting lower education levels than required by their jobs (9% in 2016/17 and 8% in 2020/21).
– The field of natural sciences had the highest percentage of graduates reporting being undereducated (22%).
– The study also measured over-skilling and under-skilling, finding that graduates’ skill levels were significantly higher than required by their current jobs for almost all skills assessed.