2.6 Skills-related underemployment by contract type

As Figure 2.6 shows, workers in a non-permanent job are more likely to be over-qualified for their jobs than are permanent workers. The proportion of overqualified workers increased over time for both groups.

FIGURE 2.6: Workers in non-permanent jobs likely to be overqualified

In times of economic unrest, more employees might enter into jobs that require lower qualifications than they possess and they might accept more precarious working arrangements to avoid unemployment. As Figure 2.7 shows, this can be observed in the increase in flexible employment arrangements over time. The proportion of overqualified workers with zero-hours contracts in particular increased substantially during the cost-of-living crisis.

FIGURE 2.7: Zero-hours workers are more likely to be overqualified