Spare a thought for this year's crop of new graduates just now entering a particularly difficult labour market. Over recent years, conditions for graduates appear to have been worsening progressively (as my round-ups of why it didn't pay to be a graduate in 2009 and in 2008 suggested). Conditions facing the class of 2010 appear to be harsher still, with ever-fiercer competition for ever-fewer vacancies, as the economy slowly emerges from recession. But could it be the case that these tough times for graduates are not solely a product of the recession?
The UK graduate labour market in 2010: Not a pretty picture
Recent surveys paint a picture of the challenging conditions facing new graduates:
Recent surveys paint a picture of the challenging conditions facing new graduates:
- The class of 2010 is gloomy about its immediate employment prospects as confidence in the graduate labour market slumps to a 15-year low, according to a 2010 survey from High Fliers Research.
- The class of 2009 has faced a tough time finding work. One in four graduates from some universities remain unemployed after finishing their degrees last summer, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (see table E1a). Personneltoday.com reports: "Across the UK, more than one in 10 students who left university last summer failed to find work after six months - the highest unemployment rate for 10 years."
- Average graduate staring salaries have stalled at £25,000 per annum - unchanged from 2009 and 2008, a survey from the Association for Graduate Recruiters (AGR) reveals. This was as predicted in the previous biannual AGR survey. The AGR survey also records a 6.9% fall in vacancies, with the average number of applications for each role soaring to 69 (more than double the average rate of 31 recorded only two years previously, in 2008).
- Latest XpertHR benchmarking research on graduate starting salaries also registers a freeze in the graduate starting salary (subscription required). The median graduate starting salary for 2009/2010 is £24,000 (XpertHR benchmarking subscription required). This is unchanged from the rate recorded for 2008/2009 (XpertHR subscription required). This is the first time that the median graduate starting salary has not shown an increase in the 20-year history of this survey.
- Lord Digby Jones argues that the whole system of university education needs an overhaul. Jones says universities must consider how they can "produce something where someone is better skilled to face the challenges of today which might not necessarily end with the word degree."
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