In Canada, it is a common problem for university graduates to have difficulty finding jobs, especially in liberal arts majors.
Even during good employment situations, the proportion of college students finding full-time jobs within one year after graduation remains discouraging. Various guides on how to find jobs are available on social media.
A recent survey data released by Statistics Canada shows that the employment performance of the 2020 university graduates (i.e., those who graduated in 2020) over the three years after graduation not only failed to improve due to the tight labor market at that time but also became even worse.
This naturally raises the question: Is there a problem with Canada's higher education system, or are there more complex reasons? A well-known Canadian real estate blog, Better Dwelling, conducted an in-depth analysis of these data.
The opportunity to find work related to their major is small and the chance of unemployment is large. Statistics Canada’s survey on university graduates is conducted every five years. The last survey tracked the 2015 graduates. The latest data comes from a follow-up survey of the 2020 graduates.
Comparing the survey data of the 2020 graduates with those of the 2015 graduates, although Canada as a whole had entered the most tight labor market in history in the post-pandemic period, the 2020 graduates faced unprecedented challenges:
Compared with the previous survey, the proportion of those who found "work related to their major" dropped to 82%, a decrease of 1%; the proportion of graduates who could not find any work at all rose to 6%, an increase of 1% compared to 2015.
Although these percentage changes seem minor, they represent thousands of people losing the path to employment related to their studies across the country. In absolute numbers, the number of unemployed 2020 graduates was 70% higher than that of 2015 graduates. Meanwhile, while the Canadian government has been expanding immigration to address labor shortages, it has not effectively alleviated the employment problems of new talent. Despite graduates entering the workforce during what is considered the "best job window in history," reality is colder: they cannot find jobs, cannot find work related to their major, and cannot find stable development paths.
The employment situation varies greatly among provinces. Although overall, it has become more difficult for graduates to find work related to their major within three years, this is not the case nationwide. Better Dwelling discovered some differences: graduates in Ontario and British Columbia are struggling, while graduates in Quebec and Alberta have very high employment success rates. The author of the article exclaimed, "It's almost like two completely different countries." Data shows significant differences in employment conditions for graduates across provinces, with some provinces showing steady progress while others have seen a sharp decline.
The highest employment rate for graduates is in Quebec Province, where 90% of graduates found work related to their major within three years, an increase of 3% compared to 2015. Saskatchewan Province ranks second with 85%, but it dropped by 2% compared to 2015. Alberta Province ties with Saskatchewan at 85%, but it increased by 2% compared to 2015. Prince Edward Island showed the greatest improvement in various surveys, with its employment rate rising by 5% to reach 83%. Employment rates in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also reached 83%, rising by 2% during this period.
In contrast, three provinces lag behind the national average, particularly the performance of Ontario and British Columbia is worrying, but these two provinces are the preferred destinations for college students. Only one quarter (76%) of graduates in Ontario were able to find work in related fields, a decrease of 2% compared to 2015, making it the worst province in the country. Moreover, Ontario's graduate unemployment rate is also higher than the national average, reaching 7%. BC Province (79%) performs slightly better than Ontario, but it decreased by 3% during the same period, matching the national average unemployment rate.
Manitoba Province (80%) ranks third from the bottom in terms of employment rate, a decrease of 4% compared to 2015, making it the province with the largest drop nationwide. The causes may include the devaluation of higher education credentials, mismatch between supply and demand, or structural issues.
Various signs indicate that the employment difficulties faced by graduates are not simply a matter of "poor market conditions." Structural reasons may include:
Rapid expansion of higher education, resulting in far more graduates than job openings;
Certain majors being out of sync with market demands, leading to graduates being "mismatched" upon graduation;
Companies placing high emphasis on "experience," making it difficult for new graduates to meet entry requirements; restrictions on internships and social opportunities during the pandemic affecting job preparation. Additionally, in the Greater Toronto Area, which is particularly severe in Ontario, currently one in every 11 workers is unemployed, further increasing the competitive pressure on recent graduates.
The "slip" in employment is not just about numbers but also represents a crisis of direction for young people! This once-every-five-years report not only provides a series of cold statistics but also reveals an unsettling reality: in an era dubbed as having "the most opportunities," Canadian youth are increasingly finding it difficult to secure stable careers related to their majors. Graduation no longer equals employment, and degrees are no longer a "pass." Until adjustments are made in education, labor policies, urban development, and economic structures, the "predicament" of graduates is likely to persist.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7503192745142534719/
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