University graduates are finding work in droves, according to a report from the Council of Ontario Universities.
The Council of Ontario Universities’ annual Graduate Survey says a whopping 94 per cent of recent graduates are employed two years after graduation.
Moreover, the survey claims 89 per cent of graduates employed, “considered their work either closely or somewhat related to the skills developed at university.”
The COU’s numbers are very close to analogous statistics at York. In 2013, 90 per cent of York graduates were employed two years after graduating.
However, experts have since slammed the report as vague and exclusionary.
Roxanne Dubois, national representative at Unifor, says the report neglects young people outside the university system, as well as individuals who have not landed full-time employment.
Statistics Canada defines full-time employment as over 30 hours a week. Retail Action! activist Rawan Abdelbaki says working 30 hours a week could mean many things, including working for multiple employers or working full-time hours under a part-time title.
“Looking at labour market participation at six months and two years evades the question of permanent work,” she adds.
A 2014 CFS-Ontario report claims one third of post-secondary graduates aged 25 to 29 move
into low-skilled jobs after graduation, with about half of all youth working in retail and hospitality, sectors Abdelbaki says are infamous for low wages, erratic hours, and inadequate training.
Other student concerns, such as finding employment in their field of study, have yet to be fully addressed, while the “89 per cent figure” could mean anything, says Abdelbaki.
According to Unifor national representative Angelo Dicaro, we should be “beyond the ‘a job is a job’ analysis of the labour market.”
Dianne Twombly, manager, career development at York’s Career Centre, says the figures reflect employers’ desire for students with transferable skills.
“These skills, which give university graduates added value over time as their careers progresses, include communication skills (verbal and written), ability to work in teams, planning and organizational skills, decision-making abilities, leadership and problem solving skills, and the ability to adapt and be flexible,” adds Twombly.
According to COU President and CEO Bonnie M. Patterson, “the Graduate Survey does indeed address the quality of employment found by Ontario students.” Patterson criticized the CFS report as outdated.
“I have a lot of difficulty with that statement. The first part (one-third of post-secondary graduates aged 25 to 29 move into low-skilled jobs after graduation) is from a 2005 report, which means the data is extremely outdated,” says Patterson.
Patterson says the 2005 study by the Canadian Policy Research Networks is not included in the CFS report.
“Also it lumps university graduates and college graduates together. Indeed, there are many students who go to college to prepare for jobs that sometimes are considered lower-skilled roles,” Patterson adds.
It’s not surprising that it might take graduates a year or two to establish themselves in the workplace, according to Patterson.
“What I can say is that Ontario university students themselves report in this annual survey, done by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, that they have high employment levels after graduation,” says Patterson.
“Some of those jobs are full-time, some are part-time, and some people have created their own jobs through start-up firms. We know that employment levels and earnings grow as university graduates get a foothold in the job market.”
Alex Kvaskov, Assistant News Editor and Matt Dionne, Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Michael Zusev, Photo Editor
