What do graduates do?

With many FE and 6th form students having second thoughts about entering HE in the current financial climate now might be a good time to look at the most recent report on the destinations of graduates. What do graduates do?, by Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU), Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) and UCAS was published in November 2009 and looked at the destination of 2008 graduates.

Six months after graduation, those who completed their degree in 2008 were less likely than those who graduated a year earlier to be in employment and more likely to be unemployed or have gone onto further study/training.

The economic downturn, which began towards the end of 2007, has, unsurprisingly, had an impact on graduate employment. According to a survey of employers by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), in 2009 graduate vacancies have suffered ‘an unprecedented fall’ of 24.9%, whilst the average number of applications per vacancy has gone up from 30.7 in 2008 to 48.8 in 2009. Competition is particularly fierce for those aiming for a job in banking or financial services.

In terms of unemployment construction and engineering were amongst the hardest hit sectors, along with investment banking and IT. Unemployment levels for IT graduates have been comparatively high for a number of years but rose by 4.2% to 13.7% for 2008 graduates.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the percentage of 2008 graduates going into business or financial types of occupations was down from the previous year. There were also fewer entering sales or marketing roles. The number of graduates going into IT jobs saw a year-on-year decrease. For example, the number of IT consultants, software professionals and computer programmers dropped 18%, whilst the number of graduates working as IT technician/helpdesk support decreased by 15%. However, there has been little change in the numbers employed as web developers or web designers.

Other examples of occupations which have seen a year-on-year decrease in the number of graduates include: legal executives and paralegals, mechanical engineers, chartered or certified accountants, town planners or surveyors, architectural technicians or assistants, journalists and editors, graphic artists and designers and interior designers.

However, there has been a year-on-year increase in the percentages of graduates going into health, social and welfare, and education-related occupations, suggesting that despite the economic downturn, public sector recruitment continued to be buoyant – at least up to the beginning of 2009!

Despite the rise in unemployment, for those who have found a job, salary levels were still holding up. The average salary was £19,677, an increase of 2% from the previous year’s figure of £19,300. The highest average salary (£25,716) was reported by protective service officers, which include officers in the armed forces. Health professionals, including doctors, dentists, psychologists and pharmacists, commanded the second highest average salary, at £25,362, whilst occupations with salaries at the lower end include administrative work, with pay typically around £14,000 to £16,000. 

Any signs of economic recovery may not be reflected in the destinations of new graduates until 2010 or 2011. The unemployment level at six months after graduation for the 2009 cohort may be even higher than 2008. However, as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have  pointed out, ‘While graduate employment in the short term will be affected by the contraction of the jobs market, in the longer term a degree is still a great investment.’

Click here for the full report.

Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
Central London Connexions
June 2010