Employment rates dropped for college graduates during height of Covid-19

Employment rates decreased among students who graduated at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures show.

Despite challenging circumstances, more than three quarters of higher education students in the class of 2020 had jobs nine months after graduation.

The figures are contained in the Higher Education Authority’s graduate outcomes survey for the class of 2020. Graduates were surveyed nine months after graduation.

Average full-time earnings for younger graduates were just under €32,600.

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ICT or technology graduates were the highest paid (just over €40,500), followed by engineering (€40,845) and education (€40,300). Arts and humanities were lowest (just under €28,000).

Overall, most of the class of 2020 were working or due to start a job (76 per cent, down 4 per cent on 2018).

There was a small increase in numbers going on to further study (14 per cent, up 1 per cent) and unemployment rates doubled (8 per cent, up 4 per cent since 2018).

Employment rates were highest among education graduates (93 per cent) and lowest for arts and humanities (53 per cent) graduates.

This largest drop in employment was among undergraduates in areas such as arts and humanities (down 12 per cent), social sciences and journalism (down 10 per cent) and services including hospitality and tourism (down 8 per cent).

While there was a sharp drop in employment for some sectors, unemployment rates did not rise to the same extent as many graduates went on to further study.

The data also shows a strong relationship between Leaving Cert points and earnings.

Graduates who achieved more than 500 points had the highest salaries. At the other end of the scale, graduates that achieved less than 255 points had the lowest earnings.

Of those in employment, nearly two-thirds of graduates were on permanent or open-ended contracts, up slightly on 2018.

These contracts were most common in ICT and least common amongst education graduates.

There was a slight increase in the proportion of students pursuing further study nine months after graduation (14 per cent, up 1 per cent on 2018).

The proportion pursuing further study was highest for arts and humanities graduates (27 per cent) and lowest for education graduates (3 per cent).

Overall, the most common fields of study for graduates were business, administration and law (26 per cent ), health and welfare (15 per cent ), and arts and humanities (12 per cent).

The most common programme type is undergraduate honours degrees (53 per cent), followed by taught masters (23 per cent).

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris TD said the study provided new insights about the impact of Covid-19 on student employment and further study, during a period of "unprecedented change" in key parts of the economy".

Higher Education Authority chief executive Dr Alan Wall said the dataset will help institutions and other stakeholders in "providing students with appropriate career advice and relevant information on their course choices".