World Immigration News

(The Conversation)When skilled immigrants are overqualified, employers pay a price too

Release Date
2026-08-27
Media
The Conversation
Summary
Canada actively recruits highly skilled immigrants, yet many struggle to find jobs matching their qualifications. In 2024–2025, 33% of post-secondary-educated immigrants were overqualified for their jobs, compared with 19% of Canadian-born workers. Foreign credentials and experience are often undervalued, while employers tend to favor Canadian work experience.

Overqualification can reduce immigrants’ job satisfaction and well-being and increase their likelihood of leaving, creating retention and recruitment costs for employers. The problem may be difficult to detect because overqualified workers can still perform strongly while feeling frustrated and underused.

Employers can reduce these negative effects by giving skilled immigrants greater autonomy, opportunities to use their expertise, and clear paths for career advancement. Better use of immigrants’ existing skills can therefore benefit both workers and organizations.
Tags
Canada

News Articles including "Canada"

Released on
Article Title
Tags