Over 87% of recent graduates in Ireland are in employment according to data released by the European Union. The 2022 data places recent graduate employment rates in Ireland above the EU-wide rate of 82.4%. Recent graduates refers to individuals who have completed their studies within 1-3 years and are not in further education.
The data for 2022 shows an increase in recent graduate employment rates both in Ireland at an EU-wide level when compared to 2021. In Ireland, recent graduate employment rates rose 10% from 86.2% in 2021 to 87.2% in 2022. The rise suggests that the employment market has recovered well from the difficulties posed by the pandemic which saw recent graduate employment rates in 2020 fall to 79.5%.
At an EU level, post-pandemic employment figures rose from 79.6% in 2021 to 82.4% in 2022, with the data showing a similar recovery to Ireland.
In 2022, employment rates of recent graduates were highest in Luxembourg where 93.4% of recent graduates were in employment. Luxembourg was closely followed by the Netherlands, Germany, and Iceland where recent graduate employment rates were in excess of 92%. Recent Graduate employment rates in 2022 were lowest in Italy at 65.2%, with Greece and Romania also having recent graduate employment rates below 70%.
The data does show a disparity between the recent graduate employment rates of males and females at an EU level, with 83.5% of male graduates in employment compared to 81.3% of female graduates. Employment rates for recent male graduates has consistently been higher than those for recent female graduates and this disparity is largely explained by the differences in the fields of study between men and women.
Mark O’Rourke – Features Editor
