There are over 5.800.000 over-educated employees in Italy. To say it is the CGIA Studies Office. We refer to graduates and graduates who carry out a profession for which the most requested qualification is lower than that possessed. In 2019 they were just under 25 per cent of the total number of employees and their incidence is constantly increasing: in the last 10 years, in fact, the absolute data of over-educated in Italy have grown by almost 30 per cent. Furthermore, if we calculate the percentage only of those employed who have a high school diploma or a degree, last year the incidence of over-educated people rose to 40 percent.
- Overeducation reduces labor productivity
The coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Studies Office says:
“The increase in over-educated people is largely due to the mismatch between the specialist skills required by companies and those possessed by candidates. It should also not be forgotten that thanks to the generational turnover recorded in recent years, many over 60s with low levels of education have left the job market and have been replaced by young graduates or graduates with no professional experience behind them. However, over-education should not be underestimated, because very often it activates mechanisms of demotivation and discouragement that negatively affect the level of productivity of the worker concerned and consequently of the company in which he is employed. The climate of discouragement that is created can trigger situations of malaise which spreading among colleagues can even affect entire sectors or production departments, with very negative repercussions for the life of the company ". To combat over-education, the CGIA informs us, it is absolutely necessary to reduce the gap between supply and demand of work, trying to make business needs more and more coincide with the specificities and autonomy of the school world.
- However, we are the least educated in Europe
Although in our country the problem of over-education is constantly growing, paradoxically we continue to be among the least educated in Europe. The secretary Renato Mason denounces:
"Last year, the share of the Italian population between 25 and 64 years with at least an upper secondary qualification was 62,2 per cent, a figure much lower than the average of the Union of 28, equal to 78,8 , 80,4 percent and that of some of our main competitors. In fact, I would point out that France recorded 81,1, the United Kingdom 86,6 and Germany 25 percent. No less wide is the gap in the percentage of those who have obtained a tertiary qualification always in the age group between 64 and 2019 years. If in 19,6 the threshold was 33,2 per cent in Italy, the European average stood at 25. It should be noted that the share of Italian graduates aged 34-22 in STEM disciplines is similar to the average of the 6 countries of the European Union that are members of the OECD. However, there is a large gender gap. If for the male component the difference is XNUMX points with the EU average, the incidence of Italian graduates in technical disciplines is instead higher than the European average ".
- The central role of SMEs
According to the CGIA, the role of SMEs would allow to stem the spread of the phenomenon. Although there is no data that allows us to accurately measure the level of over-education by company size, daily experience teaches us that the role of workers in small businesses is central to those who work in larger companies. In fact, in SMEs, in addition to having the formal knowledge learned during the school experience, mainly of a technical / professional nature, the employees, thanks to the "extended" tasks they practice in these small production companies, have more extensive operational and experiential knowledge and complex of those who, on the other hand, carry out their work in a defined manner and in very restricted areas. As often happens for those employed in a large company.
- The Center is the most affected macro area in Italy
At a territorial level, the region most “affected” by the phenomenon is Umbria, which last year recorded 33 per cent of over-educated people out of the total number of employees. Followed by Abruzzo (30,3 percent), Basilicata (29,4 percent), Molise (27,8 percent) and Lazio (27,2 percent). At the bottom of the ranking we see Piedmont (22,2 per cent), Lombardy (21,7 per cent) and Trentino Alto Adige (19,3 per cent). In the last 10 years, the most sustained growth in the number of over-educated employees has been in Trentino Alto Adige (+57 percent), followed by Sardinia (+46 percent), and Puglia (+45 percent). Among graduates who carry out a job for which the most requested qualification is lower than that possessed, the most common professions are those of computer technician, accountant, secretarial staff, administrative employee. Among the graduates, on the other hand, the jobs of bartender, waiter, bricklayer and truck driver prevail.
- School dropout remains high
Although in recent years there has been a contraction of the phenomenon, a large number of young people continue to leave school prematurely, including compulsory schooling, contributing to increasing youth unemployment, the risk of poverty and social exclusion. In 2019, school dropout was 13,5 percent (for a total of 561 young people). A person who does not have a minimum level of education, in fact, is generally destined for a lifelong unskilled job, often precarious and with a very low salary level, compared to what he could aspire to, at least potentially, if he possessed a title of medium-high study. The causes that determine school dropout are mainly cultural, social and economic: children who come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and from poorly educated families are more likely to drop out of school before completing their studies. There is also a gender factor: more boys than girls drop out of school early.
- Even in August it was difficult to find many jobs
Although youth unemployment is high, the level of education still well below European standards and early school leaving remains high, even in the midst of the Covid phase, companies have struggled to find staff. Although it is a very special month, according to the periodic survey conducted on a significant sample of companies by Unioncamere and Anpal, about 30 percent of the 200 hires expected in August were difficult to find, with peaks of 39,6 percent in Friuli Venezia Giulia, 38,1 percent in Umbria, 37,6 percent in Veneto and 37,5 percent in Trentino Alto Adige. Among the professions that are not easy to cover we point out the mechanical craftsmen, fitters, repairers and maintenance workers of fixed and mobile machines (53,5 percent), craftsmen and workers specialized in construction finishing (43,1 percent) and bus drivers and heavy vehicles (42,5 per cent).