The number of graduates gaining employment after completing their studies has reached its highest level in a decade, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Authority (HEA).
Some 58.7 per cent of students graduating in 1998 with degrees, diplomas or certificates were in employment less than a year after completing their course. This compares with the figure for 1997 of 56.3 per cent. The last time the figure for gaining employment was this high was 1989, although a significant amount of the 1989 figure consisted of overseas employment.
Of the total number of graduates, 50.7 per cent took up positions at home, with a further 8 per cent finding employment overseas, according to the survey. This is a dramatic reversal of the 1989 figures when almost 20 per cent of those gaining employment went abroad.
However, despite the current economic conditions, some 2.4 per cent of graduates were still "seeking employment" when questioned by the HEA earlier this year. This was up from 2.1 per cent in the year before, although it was considerably down on the early 1990s when 8 per cent were jobless.
The number working overseas after graduating has been dramatically declining since the late 1980s. The chairman of the HEA, Dr Don Thornhill, said many of the graduates who went overseas now did so "to seek experience and skills which in time will be of great benefit to this country".
Apart from graduates gaining employment or seeking employment, the other major group in the survey were those taking on further study or training - 35 per cent of the 1998 survey, down almost 4 per cent on the year before. The numbers in this category have been falling steadily since the early 1990s when the figure hovered around 40 per cent.
Overall some 59.8 per cent of primary degree-holders obtained employment, with 81.6 per cent of higher degree holders getting a job. This represented an almost 3 per cent increase in primary degree-holders' success in getting employment. This figure for higher degree-holders was up by 1 per cent.
The survey seems to indicate less favour among some primary degree-holders towards undertaking further study. In 1997, 37.5 per cent of them decided to take up further study opportunities, but in 1998 the figure dropped to 33.4 per cent.
The majority, about 61 per cent, of those who gained employment after graduating with a primary degree took up employment in the east. The figure for higher degree-holders was 67.2 per cent. Of primary degree-holders who gained employment overseas, 34.3 per cent got jobs in Britain, 27.8 per cent in other EU states, 9.4 per cent in North America and 9.4 per cent in Australia and New Zealand.
Of those with postgraduate diplomas, 85.6 per cent were in some form of employment, with the vast majority taking up posts at home. About 88 per cent of those with diplomas and certificates obtained employment.
For the first time, the survey includes details on more than 2,300 holders of postgraduate diplomas in mainly computer-related areas. These conversion programmes involve graduates with degrees (normally Arts) developing skills relevant to the computer industry. Over 85 per cent of them were in employment, said the survey, with 90 per cent working in Ireland.
Of those who qualified with a Higher Diploma in Education, some 51.4 per cent got part-time, temporary or substitute teaching posts, compared to 56.2 per cent the year previously.
However, there was more than a doubling of those getting permanent teaching posts - from 3 per cent to 6.1 per cent. The number teaching abroad continued to fall from 8.9 per cent in 1997 to 6.4 per cent last year.