In a report released earlier today, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded that more than fifty percent (50%) of Romanian emigrants who graduated higher education are overqualified for their jobs.
According to the report, emigration is an essential phenomenon in the modern history of Romania. Since the country joined the European Union in 2007, many residents have decided to seek better opportunities abroad. This has led to a significant drop in the population in the country, down to nineteen million (19.5m) in 2018 from more than twenty-two million (22.4m) back in 2000.
The research report also details that the majority of Romanian emigrants have chosen to live and work in Italy.
Overqualified work
Emigrants with higher education form about twenty-three percent of all Romanians living outside of the country and in OECD countries. What is more impressive is that about half of these people are currently employed in positions requiring fewer skills than what they have gained during their university education.
One of the main reasons behind this phenomenon is the language barrier. Most Romanian emigrants, who have attained a tertiary education diploma do not have sufficient language knowledge to be employed in better positions.
The fact that these people have graduated in Romania does not help either, as employers often have difficulty in recognizing foreign diplomas and the skills they stand for. Of course, there are countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, where the majority of Romanians have landed jobs requesting higher education diplomas.
Despite recent worries caused by Brexit and the highly volatile political climate in the United Kingdom, the share of Romanian higher education graduates who have jobs according to their qualification is more than twenty percent (20%).
