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Graduate unemployment rises
19 July 2009
The number of jobless degree-holders jumps, but figures reveal some institutional pockets of employability excellence. Hannah Fearn reports
The difficulties facing graduates in the job market have been underlined by the latest figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
According to Hesa’s performance indicators, the proportion of graduates who were unemployed six months after they left university rose by more than a third, from 5.7 per cent to 8.2 per cent, in 2007-08. Since then, the economic situation has worsened.
The number known to be in employment fell from 63 per cent to 61 per cent, while 15 per cent went on to further study and 7 per cent to study and work.
The figures also revealed the universities that produced the most employable graduates.
The University of Buckingham topped the employability table, with 100 per cent of its 2007-08 cohort going on to work or further study.
The university put its success down to its size. Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor of Buckingham, said: “We have a comprehensive programme of employability skills sessions and, because we are so small, we can tailor our support to individual students.”
The Robert Gordon University also did well, with 98 per cent of its students finding work or continuing to study.
Mike Pittilo, its vice-chancellor, said that employability was a key focus for the university, pointing out that all its courses had either an industry or public-sector steering group, and that the majority of undergraduates completed a work placement during their degree.
London Metropolitan University had the worst record, with just 78.8 per cent of its graduates in work or study within six months of completing their studies.
A London Met spokesman said: “We continue to build our relationships with employers and support our students by providing guidance about employment and educational opportunities.”
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the Hesa figures made for “grim reading”.
“Unemployment is an increasingly worrying theme for the sector at the moment, with news of jobs cuts at universities reaching us on a daily basis,” she said.
“The Prime Minister said he would not let education be a victim of the recession, but these figures, coupled with the constant news of redundancies, does little to reassure us.
“The fact that graduates are entering such a tough job market with record levels of debt must be a cause for concern for all of us.”
Keith Herrman, deputy chief executive of the Council for Industry and Higher Education, said that the Hesa figures painted a bleak picture but added that the current situation might be even worse because the data were drawn from a period before the depths of the recession.
However, he noted that there had been a positive side-effect on undergraduate attitudes towards skills and work.
“The recession has forced many graduates and students to think critically about how they equip themselves with the necessary skills for the world of work,” he said.
Wendy Piatt, director-general of the Russell Group, said she was pleased with figures showing that about 19 out of 20 graduates from its member institutions went on to work or study within six months of completion.
“Now more than ever, employers want graduates who are good at problem-solving, are entrepreneurial and able to handle uncertainty,” she said.
hannah.fearn@tsleducation.com
Oxford leads in outside earnings
The University of Oxford earned the most external income from research grants and contracts in the 2007-2008 academic year, new data show.
The figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that Oxford attracted £283 million in funding over the period. Imperial College London was second with £255 million, and the University of Cambridge third with £242 million.
The money is over and above that allocated on the back of the research assessment exercise and includes funding from research councils and companies.
But the data also show that while Oxford may have attracted the most money, its staff costs were higher than Imperial’s and Cambridge’s, and it did not produce as many PhDs as its ancient rival. – Zoë Corbyn
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zoe.corbyn@tsleducation.com
Readers' comments
One school of thought is UK students follow what happens to USA students 3 years later. The worrying stat for the USA is that graduate unemployment has reached 18%, double the figure for the average demographic. Yet students both sides of the Atlantic agree it is primarily their own responsibility to develop employability skills. Where Americans excel here is in developing their networking skills -with approaching 25% now embracing professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to seek advice and find opportunities otherwise not advertised. In the UK, under 1% of students use 'professional networking' sites. Have we just had it too easy for too long? Whatever the answer, students need to be equipped with the best resources (step in universities) and skills if (individual responsibility) if we are not to follow the alarming unemployment rate of the USA graduate pool. David Heard, Director, Abintegro Ltd.
'Having it easy for too long' = competing in the job market for advertised positions and making speculative approaches; the alternative is the hard slog involved in latching onto opportunities through a friend-of-a-friend, the 'Old Boy Network', and cronyism. Is that really the way for recruiters to get the best field of candidates for the job? Shurely shome mishtake.
A campaign to help graduates search for work has been launched by Manchester Metropolitan University. Talent@MMU aims to raise awareness amongst employers of the skills and talents of their graduates and encourage more vacancies to be flagged directly to the University. The new micro site is www.mmu.ac.uk/talent
As a recent graduate, i feel slightly bitter towards the government... i joined university for the prospect of a better career which no doubt would ultimately enhance our economy.
Only to be misled- our student loans are not interest free!
The bank wish to claim back their student overdrafts... what means are we meant to pay our OD back with? Let it increase in interest?
When we are recruited it will take years to pay of this debt, let alone save up for a deposit on a house.
We are used to struggling and living a poor diet- that is the lesson in life- hard graft.
They need to re-evaluate recent graduate situations!
-Job Seekers and Unemployment at its highest.
-DEBT we have no means to pay back.
-How on earth are we meant to have a start in life?
I hope those who are GREED GREED GREED go hungry for a very long time.
As a recent graduate, i feel slightly bitter towards the government... i joined university for the prospect of a better career which no doubt would ultimately enhance our economy.
Only to be misled- our student loans are not interest free!
The bank wish to claim back their student overdrafts... what means are we meant to pay our OD back with? Let it increase in interest?
When we are recruited it will take years to pay of this debt, let alone save up for a deposit on a house.
We are used to struggling and living a poor diet- that is the lesson in life- hard graft.
They need to re-evaluate recent graduate situations!
-Job Seekers and Unemployment at its highest.
-DEBT we have no means to pay back.
-How on earth are we meant to have a start in life?
I hope those who are GREED GREED GREED go hungry for a very long time.
To na. Every one has sympathies with you. But it was made clear by the student loan company that their loans are not interest free. Repayment conditions are clearly stated. It is a rather late for you to recognise that loans be it mortgage or student loan has its risks and recently it is the economic situation. But we are where we are. The govt should stop all form of immigration, particularly the points-based immigration through which hundreds of so called skilled workers are allowed in including for example medical graduates when our own medical graduates are struggling to get jobs. This will release a few thousand jobs. For example why allow foreign companies ( not from EU) to get employees from their countries ( over 16,000 in a few years by companies from one country outside the EU) through work permit route Then the govt and the employers should work together to determine skills required and work out how best they could be imparted to our own graduates. This may not solve all the problems but it give a few thousand jobs back to our own graduates. Next the govt should forget that the degree route is the best way of giving skills and ensure alternative training facilitiesin conjunction with industry is provided to secondary leave leavers who otherwise will head towards universities.
I feel a great deal of sympathy for recent graduates - when they started studying, they anticipated a strong employment market that demanded competitive qualifications. Suddenly, that's all collapsed and many prospective students must be questioning their own reasoning in considering higher education - - if it doesn't entail some kind of improved employment prospect, is it still worth doing? - it may be, but the employability aspect can't be the main reason. I'd be interested to know if this translates into people studying different subjects for different reasons? if the banking bubble has burst, will more people study philosophy instead?
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