Six in ten university graduates in the UK are too qualified for the jobs they are doing because of a shortage in high-skilled vacancies, according to new research.
The report warns that graduate qualification has reached “saturation point” and it is leading to employers asking for degrees to recruit in los skilled jobs, including work at call centres, bars and coffee shops.
The research, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which represents human resource managers, revealed one in twelve graduates now occupy jobs where their talents are not needed.
The warning came a day before thousands of youngsters are set to find out their results in the GCSEs.
The CIPD found just under 60 per cent of graduates are over-qualified in Britain, one of the highest proportions in Europe - only crisis-hit Greece and Estonia have more.
Countries with a history of strong vocational training such as Germany have only 10 per cent or less of graduates in non-graduate positions.
Britain also has the second highest rate of graduates in Europe, behind Iceland, the report said.
The UK has a graduation rate of 54 per cent, the second highest in the OECD area, the report said, adding that while a rise in graduates outstripping the number of high-skilled jobs available is a trend in most countries, it is "particularly pronounced in the UK".
The CIPD called on the Government to carry out a thorough review to determine how the UK can make the most of the educational options available and to make sure that it has a “productivity plan” in place so that it creates more high-skilled jobs and improves the use of skills available.
Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, said: “The assumption that we will transition to a more productive, higher value, higher skilled economy just by increasing the conveyor belt of graduates is proven to be flawed.
Research published earlier this year showed a third of working graduates took jobs as cleaners, office juniors and road sweepers six moths after leaving university.