CLOSE to 100,000 graduates are now unemployed, with the great majority set to emigrate over the coming five years.
According to a new report, the number of unemployed graduates in the State has increased dramatically – reaching 91,000 by last August.
The survey from the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) – to be published today – says 150,000 graduates are set to emigrate in the next five years despite the State’s huge investment in their education.
Last night USI president Gary Redmond said: “We are fast reaching a point of no return for Irish graduates with dangerously high levels of graduate unemployment and soaring levels of emigration.”
The USI says official figures – mostly based on two-year-old data – understate the graduate unemployment crisis. A recent survey by UCD Students’ Union found that 30 per cent of recent graduates were unemployed, with no plans to enter further education.
This is far higher than official figures which indicate a graduate unemployment rate – based on 2008 patterns – of 9 per cent.
USI says the number of unemployed graduates is more than 91,000 and running close to 100,000.
More than 17,200 jobless graduates from the class of 2010 were not included in official figures published in June as they would not have qualified for any benefit or allowance at that stage.
Unemployment levels are particularly high among graduates from disciplines linked to the construction sector such as architecture, civil engineering and law.
Graduates in education are also struggling to find jobs, with schools routinely receiving several hundred applications for one teaching post.
The USI survey says male graduates are much more likely to be unemployed.
The USI document will also raise questions about how the Irish education system prepares graduates for the workplace. It cites a survey of employers where 32 per cent expressed concern about whether graduates in Ireland were capable of working independently.
These findings will increase the pressure on the Government to transform the Leaving Cert where the emphasis remains largely on rote learning.
USI will today propose a new €52 million national internship programme for graduates designed to reduce the numbers on the Live Register by 20,000. The internships would be across both public and private sectors.
Participants on the programme would receive the full rate of jobseeker’s benefit while on the placement gaining valuable experience. Upon conclusion of the placement, employers will be offered a fixed-term PRSI rebate to keep the graduate intern on full-time.
Mr Redmond said the State had invested millions in education of graduates. It seemed ludicrous to deny them any opportunity to repay that investment by forcing them to emigrate or face long-term employment.
