IT graduates have been particularly badly hit with more than 16% unemployed.
Research from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) shows that graduate joblessness has increased by 1% over the last year to 8.9%.
Charlie Ball, deputy research director at HECSU, said: "Prospects for graduates in the short term look brighter, with unemployment … likely to have peaked ... However, with the anticipated public sector job cuts the future in the medium term looks less clear."
Commenting on the report, Andrew Sissions from The Work Foundation said that although graduates face a tough jobs market, it is even harder for people without degrees.
University leavers with degrees in IT have been hardest hit, with unemployment rising from 13.7% to 16.3% over the year, the HECSU study shows.
Media studies graduates and people with engineering and construction-related qualifications also struggled to find employment.
Recruitment for social and healthcare graduates increased over the period, while university leavers with marketing, geography and psychology degrees also showed unemployment levels below average.
Commenting on the unemployment of IT graduates Charlie Ball said one reason could be the high proportion of male students taking the subject, currently 83%.
"Men and women approach the labour market in a different way. Men [typically] wait for a job to turn up, whereas women are often more prepared to take something else. You've got to bear in mind that salaries in IT are relatively high so it can also be worth holding out for".
Other reasons for the high unemployment rates could be an oversupply of IT graduates in the market and IT being a course which offers little time for practical work experience. Graduates from mathematics, IT and computing-related degrees have been greatly affected by the employment consequences of the economic downturn, said the body. This is because traditionally graduates of these subjects have favoured careers in business, finance and IT - areas that have recently experienced large falls in recruitment.
However, recent research indicates that the top recruiters in these sectors are set to recover some lost vacancies in 2010.
According to the technology website silicon.com “Out-of-date skills and little real-world experience puts IT graduates top of unemployment list”. Again quoting Charlie Ball:
"Graduates taking a three-year course studying a new technology when they begin may find their skills obsolete by the time they graduate. Although there are shortages in some technology skills, graduates don't necessarily know what they are".
IT graduates may also lose out to other graduates when applying for non-tech jobs because they lack experience. "IT graduates tend not to have as much work experience and so employers may prefer to go for the safer option of employing someone with a longer employment history," Ball told silicon.com.
He said IT graduates may also be pickier about jobs than other graduates: "Many see IT degrees as vocational so IT graduates are more likely to hold out for a relevant job."
According to silicon.com changes to the job market as a result of ‘offshoring’ could also be reducing the number of entry-level jobs available to new graduates.
Richard Holway, chairman of researcher TechMarketView, called for a "fundamental review of the visa system" for IT workers and said all IT companies operating in the UK should have to state the number of entry-level IT jobs they create in the UK as part of the awarding criteria for all government contracts.
Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
November 2010
IT graduates have been particularly badly hit with more than 16% unemployed.
Research from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) shows that graduate joblessness has increased by 1% over the last year to 8.9%.
Charlie Ball, deputy research director at HECSU, said: "Prospects for graduates in the short term look brighter, with unemployment … likely to have peaked ... However, with the anticipated public sector job cuts the future in the medium term looks less clear."
Commenting on the report, Andrew Sissions from The Work Foundation said that although graduates face a tough jobs market, it is even harder for people without degrees.
University leavers with degrees in IT have been hardest hit, with unemployment rising from 13.7% to 16.3% over the year, the HECSU study shows.
Media studies graduates and people with engineering and construction-related qualifications also struggled to find employment.
Recruitment for social and healthcare graduates increased over the period, while university leavers with marketing, geography and psychology degrees also showed unemployment levels below average.
Commenting on the unemployment of IT graduates Charlie Ball said one reason could be the high proportion of male students taking the subject, currently 83%.
"Men and women approach the labour market in a different way. Men [typically] wait for a job to turn up, whereas women are often more prepared to take something else. You've got to bear in mind that salaries in IT are relatively high so it can also be worth holding out for".
Other reasons for the high unemployment rates could be an oversupply of IT graduates in the market and IT being a course which offers little time for practical work experience. Graduates from mathematics, IT and computing-related degrees have been greatly affected by the employment consequences of the economic downturn, said the body. This is because traditionally graduates of these subjects have favoured careers in business, finance and IT - areas that have recently experienced large falls in recruitment.
However, recent research indicates that the top recruiters in these sectors are set to recover some lost vacancies in 2010.
According to the technology website silicon.com “Out-of-date skills and little real-world experience puts IT graduates top of unemployment list”. Again quoting Charlie Ball:
"Graduates taking a three-year course studying a new technology when they begin may find their skills obsolete by the time they graduate. Although there are shortages in some technology skills, graduates don't necessarily know what they are".
IT graduates may also lose out to other graduates when applying for non-tech jobs because they lack experience. "IT graduates tend not to have as much work experience and so employers may prefer to go for the safer option of employing someone with a longer employment history," Ball told silicon.com.
He said IT graduates may also be pickier about jobs than other graduates: "Many see IT degrees as vocational so IT graduates are more likely to hold out for a relevant job."
According to silicon.com changes to the job market as a result of ‘offshoring’ could also be reducing the number of entry-level jobs available to new graduates.
Richard Holway, chairman of researcher TechMarketView, called for a "fundamental review of the visa system" for IT workers and said all IT companies operating in the UK should have to state the number of entry-level IT jobs they create in the UK as part of the awarding criteria for all government contracts.
Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
November 2010