Graduate employment data a welcome boost for HE sector

Irish graduates have never had it so good, with record numbers qualifying and going directly into employment, according to the Graduate Outcomes Survey for the class of 2022, which shows what a difference a few years make and how Ireland has bounced back from the COVID hit to the economy.

Overall, 83% of last year’s class was in employment nine months after graduation, which was up from 75.9% for the class of 2020. One in 10 were in further study nine months later compared with 13.8% of the class of 2000.

The proportion pursuing further study was highest for arts and humanities graduates (one in five) and lowest for information and communication graduates (3.6%). The numbers graduating were also up – from almost 65,000 in 2020 to almost 71,000 last year.

Technological universities

The survey was a welcome boost for the country’s five new technological universities as it showed that their graduates were doing particularly well in the jobs’ stakes.

The survey is carried out annually by the Higher Education Authority whose CEO Dr Alan Wall said it showed that employment rates for Irish graduates continued to increase, confirming the value of a higher education qualification.

Two-thirds of graduates said they considered their course ‘very relevant’ or ‘relevant’ to their job. A similar percentage said that they would be ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to do the same course again.

“The current jobs climate remains strong [for graduates], with good cross-sectoral opportunities in engineering, pharmacy, medical, manufacturing and financial services,” Ruairi Kavanagh, editor of gradireland.com told The Irish Times.

Another expert said that the push to build more houses was having a knock-on effect in related areas including civil engineering, quantity surveying and across the trades, with plans for more retrofitting leading to a boom for electricians and roofers, among other areas.

“This includes electrical engineers for renewable technology, technicians for solar and scientists working in ecology and conservation,” said Joan McNaboe, research manager at the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit at the state’s further education and training authority, Solas.

Economic growth

The healthy job prospects reflect growth in the economy across most sectors over the past few decades. However, there are the, almost inevitable, storm clouds on the horizon which could batter the economy badly.

Until they do, politicians are rejoicing in the fact that there is now a record 2.67 million people at work, with a prediction that the total will top the 3 million mark in 2035. That's a long way off the 1.1 million of 1990.

The surge in the economy is partly driven by substantial foreign direct investment in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors; many international companies have established their European headquarters or major operations in Ireland.

However, cost cutting exercises by some of these global giants are a worry, as are the threats posed by an unstable Middle East and the worldwide dangers posed by a decline in the Chinese economy.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Ireland’s strong tax revenues and positive outlook were “clouded by considerable external risk”. There has also been criticism of the government’s generous budgetary measures announced in October which could fuel inflation again.