More than half of the 16 to 25 year olds recently polled by The Prince’s Trust said they were worried that they would have to take a job they did not want. Around 70% also believed that having work experience would be of more benefit than their academic qualifications when it comes to finding a job.
The findings reflect growing concerns that young people leaving education this summer and looking for work will struggle as employers cut back. Martina Milburn, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust said: “Our opinion poll suggests that people are shying away from ambition and downgrading their career plans – especially the young.”
Research by graduate recruitment website Milkround also shows that final year undergraduates fear for their job prospects. 56% are not confident about getting jobs, but a quarter continues to apply to the banking sector despite the recession.
These fears come on top of research that shows some graduates will earn little more than those getting a job straight from school or college. Students on arts and humanities courses, along with those failing to get at least an upper-second class degree, are most likely to miss out on the highest paid jobs according to the Warwick University study. The results would seem to show that not all graduates will feel the full financial benefit of a degree that the Government claims will comfortably add more than £100,000 to lifetime earnings.
London’s economic outlook
Recent projections by GLA Economics (London’s Economic Outlook: Spring 2009) suggest further contractions before slow growth in 2011:
- London’s Gross Value Added rate should fall to -2.7% in 2009. Growth should remain negative in 2010 before rising 1.7 in 2011.
- London is likely to see contractions in employment in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
- London household income will probably fall in 2009 before growing slowly in 2010 and 2011.
Annual employment growth in London turned negative in the fourth quarter of 2008, falling to -0.4% from 0.5% in the third quarter. Central London Connexions opportunities followed the same pattern.
Up to September 2008 it had been hard to spot the impact of the economic downturn on jobs for young people in Central London. That all changed at the end of 2008, with CLC opportunity numbers falling to less than half the total for the same period in 2007. The decline seems to have slowed slightly at the start of 2009, partly due to increased apprenticeship numbers.