So many university graduates, too few jobs

Dear Editor,

I read in most of the daily newspapers that the University of Guyana has once again produced over a thousand graduates for 2016 – 1628 to be exact. While this is indeed commendable, I was struck by one thought while reading; how many of these holders of degrees, diplomas and certificates will find meaningful employment where they will be able to utilise their new found academic prowess? I am sure many others are thinking the same thing.

Many will find themselves forced into “temporary” occupations in bars, stores and offices that can turn uncomfortably permanent, and this is a reality that we cannot hide from. These individuals must have asked themselves why they bothered writing dissertations and studying for years, just so they can run up a large “debt” – in reality many have not cleared their student loans and many have borrowed to do just that so that they may be able to graduate. I know of at least one dozen such young people in this very position who graduated less than two years ago and who are still struggling to find meaningful employment. Some may argue, “at least it pays the bills right?” This reality does not bode well for current University students.

Guyana simple does not generate sufficient hi-tech, high-income jobs. Traditional graduate occupations in the public sector – teaching is the outstanding example – are hardly booming, given unattractive salaries. In the private sector, the usual professional routes are often also difficult to crack – as it is a matter of who you know.  From veterinary practice, to journalism, the supply of willing graduates often exceeds the ability of the professions to absorb them. Exceptions, such as some fields of engineering or IT, merely prove the point that demand and supply are badly out of equilibrium.

That said, some new-wave jobs, such as the archetypal entrepreneur in a digital start-up, are there for the taking by the motivated graduate. This is not as fanciful as it sounds: Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Steve Jobs (Apple), Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey (Twitter) didn’t even finish their degree courses. Few of them must worry about “what might have been” if they’d got that degree. So the fact that graduates are not always going into the sort of jobs their parents went into – often with big corporate “lifetime” employers – may not be quite as distressing as it first appears.

As for entrepreneurship, I can also list about a dozen names of graduates who were looking for the next ‘big thing’ and who ended up investing in businesses only to have it fail in the first few months. Not for lack of trying, but owing to a struggling economy, where disposable income has dwindled.

The reality is that students who probably won’t get that much out of university will be deterred from applying. And those that have achieved their certification will migrate.

In Guyana we have a lot of BA’s and BSc’s with honours working as shelf-stackers and sales assistants; that cannot be right.

Sincerely,

Richard Ince