noun · academic
underemployment
UK/ˌʌndə(r)ɪmˈplɔɪmənt/US/ˌʌndərɪmˈplɔɪmənt/un·der·em·PLOY·ment
A situation in which people work in jobs that do not fully use their skills or do not provide enough working hours.
Examples
“Recent graduates often face underemployment when only part‑time jobs are available.”
“Official unemployment figures may hide widespread underemployment.”
“Policies that create high‑quality full‑time jobs are needed to reduce underemployment.”
Band 8 sentence
“Despite low headline unemployment, persistent underemployment among graduates indicates the labour market still fails to utilise many skills effectively.”
Collocations
- underemployment rate
- suffer from underemployment
- reduce underemployment
Word family
Common mistakes
They confused underemployment with unemployment.→They differentiated underemployment from unemployment.
Say it for a higher band
5unemployment→6underemployed→7+underemployment
Synonyms
skill mismatch
Easily confused
unemployment
“After the factory closed, unemployment in the town rose to 12%.”
Related words
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In Work & Career
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