UK’s ‘overqualified’ worker problem

LONDON: Britain may have talent, but much of it is going to waste with many workers doing jobs beneath their education level, according to a report.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest one of the reasons Britain lags behind its economic rivals in terms of productivity is that one in six workers is overqualified.

This is especially true of younger workers. In the last three months of last year, 22.5 percent of those aged 25 to 34 were overqualified for their jobs compared with a national average of 16.1 percent. Previous studies from the ONS have emphasised the high number of recent graduates stuck in jobs such as bartending.

Dr John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist think-tank, said: “It’s clear from these estimates that the UK is underusing a lot of talent, with women and part-time (workers) in particular employed in occupations for which they are overeducated. While such a waste of available skill was understandable during the recession, the generally upward trend toward increased overeducation since 2012 is worrying. ”

However, the report also showed one in six workers is undereducated, working in roles for which they lack the average education level.

The UK had the fifth-highest level of skills mismatch of the 24 nations studied, including the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Estonia, the research found.

The statistics showed the proportion of workers “matched” to their job has dropped in recent years. The latest figures show a rise in the proportion of people overeducated to 16.1 per- cent, up from 15.3 percent two years earlier. The proportion of people undereducated for their jobs, also a potential blow to productivity, rose to 15.1 percent from 14.8 percent.

However, statisticians concluded young people are unlikely to remain overeducated as the rate for workers aged 35 to 49 was in line with the national average over the period studied, 2002 to 2015. – The Independent