53,000 college graduates unable to get a job

The number of higher education graduates claiming unemployment benefits reached nearly 53,000 in September, a record level for the last 20 years, considering that around 100,000 Romanians graduate from college every year.
“At present, those who graduated in the last two years are willing to take jobs that don’t require higher education, but high-school education. At the last job fair I attended there were three types of higher education candidates: graduates fresh out of school, unemployed who used to work in the public sector, and people close to retirement who are virtually unable to get any job,” says Mirela Marinescu, recruitment director with APT recruitment firm.
The number of university graduates claiming benefits has tripled in the last three years, especially since in 2008 there were two generations of graduates (who completed three-year and four-year undergraduate degrees), as a result of Romania signing the Bologna declaration, which provides for three-year undergraduate degrees and for two-year master’s degrees. The rate of employability for faculty graduates has also declined because of private universities losing credibility over problems related to the legality of diplomas.