Overqualified: Workers who know too much
Ireland has Europe’s highest rate of ‘overeducation’: too many people have qualifications they can’t use; many others lack the skills that employers want. Do we need to rethink our education system?
The final report published this month under the EU Style research project estimates that 33 per cent of the Irish workforce was overeducated – namely that they had more qualifications than they needed for the job they were in.
It could be described as a first-world problem: You come out of college clutching a parchment or two, start applying for jobs and then realise you’re overqualified.