These are the vocational training degrees with the most (and least) job opportunities in Catalonia.

BarcelonaThe Department of Education and Vocational Training and the Council of Chambers of Commerce of Catalonia presented this Monday the Study on Labor Integration in Vocational Education. The document analyzes the Catalan labor sector in relation to the studies completed by workers based on data from students who graduated in the 2022-2023 academic year and should serve two primary purposes. On the one hand, it should provide prospective students of vocational training (VT) degrees with a reference to the job opportunities available for each degree. On the other hand, it should be one of the bases for rethinking and restructuring the studies and offerings of VT in Catalonia.

Among many other variables, this report presents data on the proportion of students who graduated from VT nine months ago in each professional group who are working, which are working and studying, which are continuing only in their studies, or which are simply looking for work. All of this was concluded by cross-referencing the data from 18,410 students who responded to a survey with data from 15,981 questionnaires recorded by educational centers.

Vocational Training Families with the Most Working Graduates

Thus, in terms of the proportion of graduates already working, the best-off professional group by far is Extractive Industries, that is, the degrees in Excavations and Drilling, Construction Machinery Operations, and Natural Stone. In this professional group, 62% of graduates are working (the highest proportion of all), but, paradoxically, it is also the sector where the most graduates report they are looking for work (20.6%).

This situation, as explained by the Director General of Vocational Training, Ricard Gomà, is due to the fact that this sector "has a very limited supply of training places and very little training continuity"; that is, there are no higher-level Vocational Training degrees. In fact, the survey also does not include any graduates from this group who are working and studying at the same time, making it the only one in the report to find this situation.

The second most vocational field with the most graduates already working (53%) is Chemistry, followed by Energy and Water (49%), Installation and Maintenance (48%), Food Industries (47%), and Maritime and Fisheries (46%). In fact, a dozen vocational fields have more than 40% of students working, including Wood, Furniture and Cork, Safety and Environment, and Hospitality and Tourism.

The report also details the proportion of graduates who are studying and working simultaneously, but without specifying whether the students are working in a field related to their studies or not. Thus, the sectors with the most students studying and working simultaneously are Sociocultural and Community Services (31.8%), Sports Education (30.9%), Mechanical Manufacturing (23%), and Wood, Furniture, and Cork (22%).

FP families with more graduates looking for work

If we look at the proportion of graduates who are not continuing their studies and are looking for work, behind the Extractive Industries (20.6%) category are Image and Sound (20.10%), Plastic Arts and Design (18.3%), and Graphic Arts (17.9%). However, it should be noted that in most of these degrees, a high percentage of graduates continue their studies, either because they completed an intermediate degree and are now completing a higher degree or because they have chosen to continue their training in another branch.

In this sense, the survey that collects the situation of vocational training graduates in the 2022-2023 academic year also shows how, in the vast majority of professional categories, more than 30% of graduates continue their studies without working. The most notable case is that of Information Technology and Communications, where 48% of graduates are studying after graduation, followed by Physical Activities and Sports (47%), Graphic Arts (42%), and Agriculture (40%).

They earn less.

The report presented this Monday also provides an overview of the income levels of graduates who are working. Of these, those who earn the most are those with a higher education degree: 45% earn between €1,200 and €1,500 gross per month, and 26% earn more than €1,500. However, there is a significant gender gap among graduates: while 33% of men with a higher education degree earn more than €1,500, only 18% of women with the same qualifications earn this amount from their work.