Education no longer affects salary? Some employment offices have the same number of vocational graduates registered as universities

Apparently, education matters. The reality is, however, that as many MAs as people who completed basic vocational school registered in selected poviat labor offices.

Whoever thinks that work after graduation is guaranteed is wrong. We live in times where the abbreviation “MSc” or “Eng.” in front of the name are meaningful to the potential employer, but what the candidate hides within himself.

It is worth checking: Current job offers

Just as efficient but with a lower payout

Real life: the factory owner employs over 50 people. The company is developing for him, so he decided to hire a new person, namely: an electrician. A dozen or so people responded to the employer’s advertisement. He chose the two most promising candidates. The first one was after graduation and had a master’s degree in electrical engineering. The second is a graduate of the basic vocational school. He is an electrician, but raising his qualifications. He attends a technical high school to take a high school diploma and get secondary education. Both men had the same profession, qualifications and skills, but the employer chose candidate number 2, not the one after graduation. This is because after the vocational school, he agreed to work for a lower salary than a graduate of a reputable university.

Another guide: Gender pay gap

There are a lot of similar cases. CEOs and owners of enterprises – if they choose a less and better educated person, but with the same qualifications and predispositions – are willing to hire the former. It is because of profitability, i.e. a candidate with lower education will agree to work for lower wages than a person with high aspirations, because with higher education.

Education like discouragement

It even happens that employers are deterred by candidates with rich academic and professional achievements. Example: the head of a company, after reading the curriculum vitae of candidate no. 1 (graduate), rejected his candidacy. He decided to offer cooperation to candidate no. 2, with basic vocational education. He did not even give the first applicant a chance to participate in an interview. The employer stated that since the man showed such extensive experience in his CV (only managerial positions in reputable corporations), the company would not be able to afford the employment of this person. Meanwhile, candidate number 1 was in an unenviable situation: he lost his last job a few weeks ago due to the liquidation of his position, and he did not receive a response from a single company in which he applied for employment. So he really wanted a permanent job and wanted to get a job in the aforementioned enterprise. Would agree to the salary proposed by the employer. He stated that if the job suited him, he would be permanently connected with this company, and maybe he would get a promotion here as well. He will not get a promotion because he did not get a job. The boss accepted the candidate after vocational training.

Salaries under the microscope

Strange but true – nowadays a bricklayer will find a job faster than a master’s in construction. This happens not only at the construction site. The same applies to production, trade, gastronomy and hotel industry. Employers and entrepreneurs assume that if they can pay someone less for equally performed tasks, they do so.

Education is one of the main factors influencing the amount of remuneration – it was so years ago. The greater the knowledge and skills required, the greater responsibility rests with the employee, and the greater the scope of responsibility, the better the salary. Usually, the differences in the amount of earnings amount to several, sometimes several percent, depending on whether the person concerned has only completed primary or vocational school, has secondary or higher education.

We wrote about it: What earnings can university graduates count on

In 2007, a salary survey was carried out. It turned out that people with the lowest education, i.e. after primary school, earned 1,800 zlotys a month. Ko had secondary education, he received 2,500 zlotys every month, and an employee with higher education – about 3,500 zlotys. Times have changed. Education is not necessarily a price. It happens that a person after primary school earns more than a person after graduation. And not when both run their own business, but when they work for someone in companies.

The company cuts costs

Employing a person full-time is the best solution for the employee, but not for the employer. A full-time employee (under a contract of employment) is the greatest cost for the company. Therefore, when an enterprise intends to cut costs, which is understandable from an economic point of view, then it strives to pay the staff as little as possible. Thus, if he is to choose a basic vocational school graduate or one who has completed his studies, he decides to cooperate with the former. The reason is the amount of remuneration, i.e. a person with lower education will earn less, and who has higher education will want a higher salary. Effect: a person with a vocational qualification goes to a new job, while a person with a master’s or engineer diploma goes to the employment office, to the window with the word “registration”.