Recent U.K. graduates facing tougher employment challenges

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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According to the recent reports, the first students, who had paid £3,000 tuition fees are facing the employment challenges in the form of a lack of graduate jobs, more debt and, in many cases, significant unemployment periods.

The findings are pointing at the facts that the students, who graduated in the midst of the economic crisis, end at dealing with a tough jobs market with 40% failing to get graduate-caliber posts more than two years after leaving education, around twice the proportion of their peers a decade earlier.

According to a report commissioned by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit, an increased number of graduates looking for work combined with harsh economic conditions led to more graduate unemployment and more graduates in lower skilled jobs.

The findings reveal that one among 10 of this group has experienced “significant” periods of unemployment, and for some this could be continuing. In case of coming from black or Asian backgrounds or with a lower degree classification, there is an increased probability of getting affected.

The Futuretrack report tracked students who started university in autumn 2006, and paid up to £3,000 fees introduced at that time are likely to have an average debt of £16,000 as compare d to the 1999 graduates who had average debts of £7,960, which is equivalent to £10,300 in 2009 when adjusted for inflation. The latest report, assembled on the basis of surveys conducted between November and February, to assess their performance in the labour market after graduating in 2009 or 2010.

The results tell that 18 or 30 months after graduating, depending on the length of their degree, two in five (40%) were serving in non-graduate jobs – roles not match-able to their skills and knowledge as compared to 1999 graduates, who were one in four (26%) in non-graduate jobs around 18 months after graduation.

The report gets to the conclusion that 1999 and 2004 graduates “painted a rosy picture of the graduate labour market”. In the earlier times, graduate unemployment was virtually non-existent and students tended to gain graduate jobs with the aid of lower tuition fees and the rapid expansion in the higher education sector.

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