The discrepancy between the level of qualifications and competencies of specialists produced by universities and the demand of the labor market has become the main challenge for the competitiveness and development of universities at the beginning of the XXI century. However, in recent years, the higher education sector has been characterized by the desire of universities to solve this problem by reducing the imbalance between the graduation of specialists and the needs of potential employers. In this connection, a new strategy for the development of universities aimed at shaping the content and structure of the educational process in accordance with the requirements of the labor market and the specifics of technology development at the present stage of higher education development is becoming a key factor for ensuring a sustainable pace of university development. The purpose of the study is to compare the state of the labor market in general and the labor market of young professionals with higher education for the period 2010–2021. to identify their relationship with the features of the modern strategic development of universities and to check the impact of the graduation structure in the areas of training and the relevance of the acquired competencies on the development of the labor market in the short term. The article offers a set of indicators that allows a comprehensive assessment of the situation in the labor market segment – the labor market of young professionals with higher education. The possibility of considering the functioning of the labor market in connection with the peculiarities of modern university development significantly expands the understanding of the labor behavior of university graduates and can also be the basis for adjusting the strategic development of universities in terms of the structure of the graduation of young specialists, which together can serve as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of universities in the educational services market.
