44 per cent of workers feel overqualified for their job

2 out of 10 feel under-qualified: Survey

Forty-four per cent of Canadians feel overqualified for their jobs, according to a global survey of employees in 32 countries by Randstad.

This is similar to the global average (47 per cent), with the highest numbers in China (84 per cent), Turkey (78 per cent) and Greece (69 per cent) and the lowest in Belgium (28 per cent), Luxemburg (23 per cent) and Denmark (25 per cent).

On the other hand, two out of 10 Canadian employees said they are under-qualified for their position while globally one in five workers believe they are under-qualified. The number of employees who say they are under-qualified for their job ranks highest in Italy (47 per cent), Japan (42 per cent) and Chile (41 per cent) and lowest in Hungary (four per cent), Czech Republic (seven per cent) and Greece (nine per cent).

The data suggests Canadian workers may feel less challenged by their current jobs, said Hanna Vineberg, vice-president for central Ontario at Randstad Canada.

"It raises questions about how this will affect employee turnover and retention. Employers who want to keep their best people should be looking for more and better ways to keep them challenged, upwardly mobile and happy," she said. "Employers now more than ever should be investing in the skills development and training that their employees value most."

Additionally, 45 per cent of Canadian employees see colleagues who are in a job above their educational level and four out of 10 see others in a job below their educational level, found the survey, which had a minimal sample size of 400 interviews per country.

Employees from Brazil (61 per cent), Hong Kong (71 per cent) and China (65 per cent) believe many of their colleagues work below their educational level. In Argentina, only 18 per cent of employees feel they are under-qualified in their own positions but 65 per cent believe many of their colleagues are under-qualified for their jobs.

The majority (72 per cent) of Canadians said their jobs are a good match with their field of study while two-thirds said colleagues have a job that is a good match with their field of study. Similarly, in Hong Kong (78 per cent), India (82 per cent), Denmark (80 per cent) and Norway (68 per cent) many employees indicate their job is a good match with their educational background. However, few employees in Japan (37 per cent) and Slovakia (48 per cent) said they are in a job that matches their field of study.

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