Quarter of Turkish university graduates unemployed: Report

ISTANBUL

More than a quarter of university graduates in Turkey are seeking jobs, a recent report by the main opposition party has shown.

The number of unemployed university students increased to 1,340,000 this year from 97,545 in 2004, said the youth report “Unemployed, Hopeless and Futureless,” signed by Deniz Demir, senior adviser to the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

“The mentioned rate has been on the rise with the shrinking job opportunities, population growth and the increasing number of graduates,” said the report, based on data from Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Social Security Institution (SGK).

“In the same period, the number of unemployed high school graduates has decreased from 47 percent to 25. The data indicates the fact that university education defers unemployment,” it added.

Some 5.5 million of the 20 million Turkish citizens in the age group between 15 and 29 are enrolled in the education system, according to the report. Six million people in the same group are employed, 2.5 million of them are both employed and working, whereas 6 million of them are neither in employment nor in education and training, making up a category dubbed as NEETs in the OCED reports.

“A significant part of the mentioned lost generation [NEETs] has given up seeking a job because they have lost their hopes to find one,” said the report.

Meanwhile, the total number of farmers decreased to below 5 million in 2018 from 7.5 million in 2002, it also said, driving up the average age of farmers from around 35 to 50.