In this video, Golo Henseke (University College London, Institute of Education) provided answers to a crucial question of How many University graduates are required to perform high-skilled tasks, by analyzing the British labour market between 1997 and 2017. Over this time span, the graduate labour force more than doubled, and job task profiles changed, particularly demanding more specialist knowledge and IT skills. But this task-warranted upskilling of jobs only took place before 2006, thereafter, the expansion of jobs that required degree-level qualifications became decoupled from changes in the task content of jobs. This raises the question of why employers are willing to pay higher wages for graduates even if their technical skills are not entirely necessary to perform their work. Golo Henseke showed that higher educational attainment reduces on-the-job learning and training time and argued that employers might seek `job ready’ candidates for otherwise unchanged jobs. Rising degree requirements have, however, implications for inequality if they redistribute access to `top jobs’ away from non-graduates.
