High levels of youth unemployment have come to affect even the employment elite of youth, that is university and college graduates. As a result questions have been asked about unemployment among social work graduates who, it is feared, may be at greater risk than other graduates. Using a study she conducted concerning the employment situation of the last graduating class of social work students at Melbourne University (which produces the largest graduating class in social work in Australia) and relating this study to others like the National Census of Social Work Graduates, the author shows a much lower rate of unemployment than is generally assumed and reported elsewhere. Following on from these findings issues are raised concerning the actual manpower supply and demand situation of the moment, as well as questions about the desirability of manpower planning and mechanisms for its achievement.