Following news that the number of graduate jobs has increased, an ongoing problem has been highlighted once again. It’s one that all political parties have sought to address. Not enough is being done to encourage students from working class families to attend university. In all disadvantaged groups – including BAME and LGBT, it is families where nobody has yet been to university and those historically in unskilled and low paid work with the lowest representation.
The Statistics in Brief
The mix of good and bad news is broken down as such:
- The number of graduates hired into relevant roles increased by 16% this year
- Of those hires, 57% attended a state schooled. Yet 91% of the population were schooled in this way
What’s more, recent graduates are reported to be around £1,500 worse off than students who graduates prior to 2008 due to wage stagnation. This is a matter of ongoing concern for the economy, particularly as rents soar and interest rates on mortgages increase alongside the cost of living rises.
Employment: The Good News
The economy as far as graduate jobs are concerned is showing definite signs of improvement. Graduate roles increased by an average of 16%, a marked increase on last year which was 10%. Graduate jobs continue to outstrip modern apprenticeships (of which there were 5,499 more) and schemes for school leavers (of which there were 766 more than 2017). Internships increased. They have received a bad reputation in recent years, particularly those that do not pay. However, rehires of internships to permanent employees was over 50%. Similarly, 43% of summer placements were taken on permanently.
Diversity & Wages: The Bad News
Despite this good news for graduates, several issues of concern were raised. Diversity continues to be a problem. On every measure, employers were failing to reflect the statistics of the general population on diversity of first-generation graduates, disability, gender which were all underrepresented in these statistics. This was even more critical in professional and financial services and law compared to other industries. Despite 91% of the population attending state school, just 57% of graduates were employed in these professions.
The other piece of bad news is that despite the continued rise in the cost of living, wages are stagnating for graduates and non-graduates alike. For ten years, graduate salaries are barely keeping in line with inflation.
Diversity Response
Nearly all employers claimed that diversity was a significant priority (96% of respondents to a recent survey). Most of this focus is on attracting diversity through improvements in marketing (77%) and the recruitment process (67%). While 20% have removed minimum entry requirements for applications. Most encouraging is that 33% look at university profiles to understand diversity issues.