NTUA: Professional “rebirth” of engineers in the labor market – The 11 trump cards

Important conclusions and findings are contained in the new research conducted by the NTUA Liaison Office, with funding from the NSRF 2014-2020, on the integration of graduates of the National Technical University of Athens into the labor market.

As announced, the survey concerns diploma holders of the period 2011-2019 and was conducted between May and June 2023 on a wide sample of 1,307 NTUA diploma holders, a rate of 10.5% of all graduates of the period. A series of interesting facts related to the professional development of engineers, after their graduation from NTUA, that is, during the first years of their careers, were examined.

The professional development of engineers

Indicatively, the employment characteristics of NTUA graduates, the state of the labor market, after the “debt crisis”, the challenges that appear at the level of entrepreneurship, the organization of the work process, after the pandemic, the effect of the energy crisis, etc. are mentioned.

The 11+1 points of the education and employment of NTUA graduates (2011-2019)

Based on the research, (1) NTUA graduates are approaching a “full employment” situation in 2023. The unemployed in the sample amount to just 2%, an element that highlights the significant improvement in the employment prospects of NTUA graduates and the “rebirth” of the engineering labor market.

(2) NTUA is among the first choices of candidates for the nationwide exams, a fact which documents the attractiveness of the studies offered by the Institution.

(3) 52% of graduates continue their studies to obtain a master’s degree and 16.8% to obtain a doctorate.

(4) According to the evaluation of the graduates of the sample, it was shown that the NTUA continues to upgrade the level of knowledge, as well as the skills, it offers to its students, improving the adaptation of young engineers to the demands of the labor market.

(5) Diploma holders continue to consider the NTUA diploma as the most basic resource in their attempt to be hired in a job they desire.

(6) Almost 60% of the diploma holders in the sample were working alongside their studies.

(7) The graduates in the sample find their first job within just four months after graduation, which confirms their extremely fast absorption into the labor market.

(8) 9.4% of the diploma holders in the sample live and work abroad.

(9) NTUA graduates, after the effects of the Greek “debt crisis” subsided, are looking for stability through wage work. The increase in salaried NTUA graduates follows the general trend in the economy as a whole.

(10) “Necessity entrepreneurship”, which was a business outlet during the early phase of the “debt crisis”, is suffering the effects of “multiple crises”, showing contraction. For the engineering firms in the sample, limited business financing and the issue of competition are critical challenges for the next period.

(11) The construction industry, despite the pressure it has received in terms of number of companies, turnover and number of employees, continues to be the pre-eminent “gateway” for engineers in the labor market.

The survey is available on the NTUA Liaison Office website: hƩp://career.central.ntua.gr.