Mismatch on the labour market among young people

More than 20% of young people (15-34) with a first work experience have a higher education level or more skills than required by the job. Furthermore, for more than 20%, the field of education does not match their job. This is what emerged from the new results of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, that examined the match or mismatch among young people in the labour market.

Women slightly more often overqualified

Statbel measures the (mis)match on the labour market using three indicators:

• The level of education: to what extent does the highest level of education successfully completed match the job requirements?
• Skills: to what extent do the skills match the job requirements?
• Field of education: to what extent does the field of education match the job requirements?

Overall, about 70% indicate that the qualifications and skills match what is required for their job^[1]. In about 60% of cases, the field of education matches to a (large) extent the job requirements.

Women are slightly more likely than men to say they are overqualified. The match is usually better for highly-skilled people than for those with low and medium levels of education. In the Brussels-Capital Region, the mismatch is slightly greater and young people are more often overqualified than in the Flemish and Walloon Regions. The match is also greater among people of Belgian origin. Employed people, especially those who have been working for some time, have a better match in terms of level of education, skills and field of education than unemployed and inactive people. People with a permanent contract have a better match than those with a temporary contract. A good match between level of education, skills and/or field of education therefore encourages job retention, although various mechanisms may be at work here.

We examine below the figures for each mismatch (level of education, skills and field of education) and determine whether there are any differences between certain groups.

Two out of ten have a higher level of education than their job requires

For seven out of ten young people, the level of education matches the job requirements. This means that, for example, a person who has a bachelor’s degree also works at that level. For two out of ten, the level of education is higher than required by the job. Nearly one in ten has a lower level of education than the job requires.

20.9% of young people have a higher level of education than required by the job

In general, we see that young women are slightly more overqualified than young men. Nearly 80% of highly-skilled people say that their level of education matches what is required by the job, although 17.5% say that they are overqualified. This overqualification rate is still higher among low-skilled and medium-skilled people: 20.9% and 24.5%. So in general, there is less of a match between the required and attained level of education among low- and medium-skilled people.

The match is better among employed people than among those who are economically inactive or unemployed: employed people more often work at their level and are less often overqualified than people who were previously employed but are now economically inactive or unemployed. The longer someone has been employed, the less mismatch there is: the match rate is only 66% among people who have been working for less than a year, compared to 79.6% among those who have been with the same employer for more than five years. When we look at specific occupations, we see that the match is the best among managers, professionals and technicians and related professionals. The highest level of overqualification is found in elementary occupations, where 44.2% of workers are overqualified.  

Two out of ten have more skills

The self-assessed skills show a similar profile: the skills of more than seven out of ten young people match the job requirements. Two out of ten have a skill level higher than necessary. Just over 5% have fewer skills than required by the job.

72.1% of young people have skills that match the job requirements

Women are slightly more likely than men to say that they have more skills for their job. Nearly 80% of highly-skilled people say that their skills match what is required by the job, although 17.6% say that they are overqualified. This rate is higher still among low-skilled and medium-skilled people: 22.0% and 27.4% say they are overqualified in terms of skills. So in general, there is less of a match between the skills and job requirements for low- and medium-skilled people (around 65%) than for highly-skilled people.

The match in terms of skills is better among employed people than among inactive and unemployed people who have previously worked. The skills of employed people more often match their job:  75.3% indicate that they have a good match, and 19.6% have more skills than required by the job. Among inactive and unemployed people, the skills match the job requirements for about 54%, but 35% to 39% are overqualified for the job. The longer someone has been employed, the less mismatch there is in terms of skills: the match rate is only 68% among people who have been working for less than a year, compared to 81% among those who have been with the same employer for more than five years. However, it is unclear whether people stay with an employer and then progress to a better match or whether they quickly change jobs if there is insufficient match.

Employed people, highly-skilled people and young people of Belgian origin have a great match with the required skills in their job

Four out of ten do not work in their field of education

A third measurement assesses the match between the field of education of the diploma and the job requirements. For example, someone who has studied nursing and works as a nurse has a better match than a welder who is now teaching. Here, as with the other measurements, we see that for six out of ten, the field of education matches to a (very) large extent the job requirements. For 16.2%, they match to some extent, for almost 10% to little extent and for 11.2% to no extent. A small part of respondents gave a different answer: no requirements in terms of job field, a diploma without a clear field of education, or not applicable.

11.2% of young people say that there is no match between the field of education and the job

Women tend to have a slightly greater overlap between the field of education completed and the job they do. Highly-skilled people more often have a better match between their field of education and their job: nearly 75% say they match to a (very) large extent.  For medium-skilled people, this is less than half^[2]. The match between the field of education and the job requirements is better among people of Belgian origin than among people of non-Belgian origin.

This match is also better among employed people than among unemployed and inactive people who have previously worked, and we see that the match increases with seniority: from 55.5% of those who have only been with their employer for 1 year to more than 68.2% of those who have been with their employer for more than 5 years report a (very) great match. We also see that the match “to a very large extent” is twice as high in the quaternary sector than in the secondary and tertiary sectors.

^[1] A job can be either permanent or temporary (e.g. student job).

^[2] This question was not asked to low-skilled people.