Chances for university graduates to get a job will be significantly lower until 2010 than predicted two years ago. Demand for that group is rising more slowly than before.
These predictions were recently published by the Research Center for Education and the Labor Market (ROA) of the University of Maastricht. Over twenty-five percent of university students still have a good or very good job perspective until 2010. In particular, engineers and doctors have an excellent perspective. For graduates in liberal arts and social-cultural studies, the prognoses are `fair,' but the market for economists is becoming sated: the research shows that their outlook on paid employment is `mediocre.' For students in agriculture and environmental studies, the prospects are even `bad.'
ROA research from September showed that the number of unemployed university and HBO graduates is stable at five and six percent, respectively. However, the level of unemployment depends greatly on the field. No less than 8.7 percent of graduates in agriculture and environmental studies are unemployed after a year and a half, while only two percent of doctors are unable to find a suitable job.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
