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Highly educated taking low-skilled jobs in urban areas
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The slow economy has forced many university graduates to take lower-skilled jobs, government data shows. (Shutterstock/-)
The slow economy has forced many university graduates to take lower-skilled jobs, government data shows.
According to a Central Statistics Agency (BPS) survey in February, 4.2 million university graduates are overqualified for their jobs. This number is 10.52 percent higher compared to the 3.8 million overqualified graduates recorded in February 2015.
"We call it 'the bumping down effect' when a university graduate accepts a job like taxi driving" Asian Development Bank (ADB) economist Steven Tabor said during a press conference on the 2016 Asian Development Outlook at the ADB office in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The bumping down effect will create chain effects on the other job seekers. Those who have lower education levels are facing difficulties in finding jobs as low-skill jobs are often occupied by over-qualified workers.
"Low-skilled workers, particularly women, are leaving the labor force," Tabor added.
The number of people employed fell by almost 200,000 from February 2015 to February 2016. This decrease mostly occurred in urban areas. The urban labor market also showed wage stagnation in spite of better economic growth in mid-2016. (evi)
