University graduate employment rate is 92%, back to pre-pandemic levels

92% of University of Navarra graduates are either working or continuing their education. With regard to Master's graduates, the employment rate is 91.7%. 

These are data published in the latest study carried out each year by the Ikerfel Institute for Market Research and Strategic Marketing for the University of Navarra and "which are very positive when compared with the youth employment situation in Spain: according to the study for the first quarter of 2021 carried out by the National Statistics Institute (INE), youth unemployment in Spain stands at 36.5% (28% in Navarra)", highlights Roberto Cabezas, Director of Career Services at the University of Navarra.  

Ikerfel conducted the study between February and April 2021 and graduates who completed their studies in the 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years took part. A total of 2,471 respondents (1,738 undergraduate and 733 master's degree alumni) took part in the survey.

The report reveals that graduates who are working have found their first job relatively soon after completing their degree. It took 74% of Bachelor's and 71% of Master's graduates less than six months to find their first job, and 61% of Bachelor's and 57% of Master's graduates less than three months.

With regard to the place where graduates who have studied a degree at university work, 48.6% work in Navarre, 16.1% in Madrid, 15.2% in the Basque Country and 6.3% in Catalonia.

"It is very important to start discovering what you want to contribute to society during your studies. Curricular and extracurricular internships bring students closer to companies, allow them to apply the knowledge they have acquired and facilitate their integration into the labour market. In addition, I believe that the new generations can contribute a lot to companies," says Roberto Cabezas. According to the study, 82% of those surveyed who completed a degree at the academic centre stated that they had done an internship during their university studies; and, in the case of those who studied a Master's degree, 66% confirmed this.

"The satisfaction of employers who bet on the University's talent continues to increase year after year. This indicates that companies continue to value the potential of our students and graduates very positively," says Roberto Cabezas. In five years, "employer satisfaction" has risen from 7.7 to 8.36.

A plan to tackle youth unemployment

The University of Navarra worked on 10 measures to address the employment consequences of the pandemic, especially for the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021. Some of these measures implemented through Career Services are: alliances with platforms that offer youth employment in national and international companies; employability training with the collaboration of company managers and specific programmes designed for students and graduates; and individual and personalised accompaniment through career counsellors.

"We believe that the University's efforts have borne fruit, as shown by the Ikerfel study. But, of course, we will continue to work to understand and respond to the needs of our graduates and the demand for talent from companies, trying to minimise the sense of uncertainty as much as possible," says Roberto Cabezas.