Job opportunities are on the rise, but salaries are falling for Italian graduates

Turning to the issue of whether students completed their studies on time, 60.4% of graduates finished within the standard timeframe. This means that almost four in ten took longer than the standard duration to graduate. This is not exactly a minor factor when it comes to finding employment, given that, compared to those who graduate at least a year late, graduates who complete their studies on time are 14.1% more likely to be in work.

As for the average age at graduation, it stands at 26.3 years, whilst the average mark is 102.8 out of 110.

Overall, 89.1% of the sample expressed “high satisfaction with their university experience” and 72.1% would repeat the same choice without hesitation, confirming both course and university.

The employment rate among graduates is on the rise. One year after graduation, it stands at 81.2% for those with a bachelor’s degree and 80.8% for those with a master’s degree (an increase of 2.6 and 2.2 percentage points respectively compared with the previous survey).

Five years after graduation, the employment rate stands at 91.7% for first-level graduates, compared with 92.8% in 2024. For second-cycle graduates, the figure stands at 94.4%, which is the highest level in the last fifteen years and represents an improvement of 4.7% compared with the previous 12 months.

At the same time, the one-year unemployment rate fell to 9.2% in the first category and to 9.3% in the second. Five years after graduation, unemployment plummets to 2.6%.

However, the positive trend seen in the labour market is not reflected in salaries. One year after graduation, the average net monthly salary is €1,491 for first-level graduates and €1,495 for second-level graduates; adjusted for inflation, real wages have fallen slightly over the past year (by 1.4% and 0.9% respectively).

Fortunately, after five years, the picture is improving. The net monthly salary stands at €1,796 for those with a bachelor’s degree and €1,903 for those with a master’s degree. This represents a 1.6% increase for the latter and remains largely stable for the former.

The AlmaLaurea survey also highlights the well-known regional and gender pay gaps. All other things being equal, men are 13.7% more likely to be in employment than women and earn an average of €67 more net per month. The gender gap widens when children are involved. Despite having, on average, better university careers, more consistent academic performance and higher degree grades, women are less valued in the labour market.

There are also significant regional differences: people living in the North are 34.8% more likely to be in work than those living in the South. In terms of pay, those working in the North earn on average €68 more net per month than those employed in the South.

Finally, the greater selectivity of our young people deserves a mention. On the eve of graduation, the proportion of those who would refuse jobs not in line with their career path has risen by 10.8 percentage points between 2016 and 2025 (willingness to accept such jobs has fallen from 87.2% to 76.4%). On the economic front, 66.9% of those about to graduate are willing to accept a net monthly salary of no less than €1,500 for a full-time job: a figure that has more than doubled compared to 24.4% in 2016,

Marina Timoteo, director of AlmaLaurea, comments on these figures as follows: ‘Today, graduates are looking at the quality of the job. The intersection of labour supply and demand is not a meeting of two quantities but of two sets of qualities. It is no longer just career and income that count,” she adds. Aspects related to the quality of the workplace that were once considered secondary have become increasingly important, such as free time — time for oneself —, flexible working hours, the quality of relationships with colleagues, and being involved in work processes that generate social value.”

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