An overskilled workforce? – growth of graduates in non-graduate jobs. The majority of UK university graduates are working in jobs that do not require a degree, according to a new report from the CIPD.

The report found that 58.8% of graduates are in jobs considered ‘non-graduate’ roles, with the trend particularly strong in the construction and manufacturing sectors. The CIPD said the number of graduates had now “significantly outstripped” the creation of high-skilled jobs and says the report’s findings should be a “wake-up call”.

The central question posed in this report is the extent to which the skills that graduates bring to their jobs could have been acquired more efficiently in other ways, for example through an apprenticeship system; While HE expansion has been greater in the UK than in most of the rest of Europe and a degree has become a necessity for getting an ever-larger proportion of jobs.

The report suggests that there may be more cost-effective ways (for both government and individuals) of preparing many of our young people for entry into the labour market. It calls on policy-makers to scrutinise the range of courses offered by the HE sector and seriously consider the social and private returns to them.

CIPD speculate that policy makers will conclude that, in many cases, public funds could be more usefully deployed elsewhere in the education and training system. The findings suggest that the presence of a large HE sector will not necessarily lead to the attainment of the knowledge economy so desired by government.