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Rising numbers of graduates are being left jobless or forced to work as shelf stackers, labourers, cleaners and road sweepers in the economic downturn, official figures show.
More than 20,000 degree students – almost one-in-10 – who left university last summer were without a job six months later, it was revealed.
Figures show that the number of unemployed graduates has increased by around 1,300 in 12 months and more than 9,000 in just four years.
At the same time, more university leavers are also taking up “elementary” positions because of a shortage of well-paid graduate jobs during the recession, it was revealed.
Last year, some 10,270 graduates found work as labourers, couriers, office juniors, hospital porters, waiters, bar staff, cleaners, road sweepers and school dinner servers.
This was almost double the number in 2007 before the recession struck.
Lecturers warned that the disclosure – in data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency – represented further evidence of the “incredibly challenging” jobs market facing former students.
It comes as separate figures released by the Department for Education also showed an increase in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds out of school and without a job or training place.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the figures were “further bad news for students”.
“People working hard at university face an incredibly challenging jobs market when they graduate and the government should be doing more to stimulate jobs and growth,” she said.
“We already have huge numbers of people on the dole and while the prime minister attacks people on benefits he is doing little to help them get off benefits and on with their lives.”
But David Willetts, the Universities Minister, insisted that getting a degree was still a worthwhile move, with graduates likely to earn significantly more over their lifetime than people qualified to A-level or GCSE standard.
In the future, universities will be required to set out details of graduate employment rates – and average future salaries – to give prospective students more information when applying for courses, he said.
“We must ensure that graduates enter the labour market equipped to succeed," he added.
Figures from HESA show that nine per cent of degree students were “assumed to be unemployed” six months after leaving university last summer – the same as in 2010.
But with more students now in the university system, the overall number of jobless graduates increased – from 19,335 to 20,622. In 2007, just 11,020 were without a job.
Of those in work, 14 per cent of ex-students were in sales and customer service positions, including sales assistants, market traders and call centre staff. Nine per cent were in administrative jobs and seven per cent were in elementary occupations, figures show.
However, almost a third of working students – around 47,350 – went into associate professional and technical jobs, covering laboratory technicians, nurses, paramedics, interpreters, police officers and the armed forces. This was the largest single category.
Separate data from the DfE showed a rise in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds officially classed as “NEET” – not in education, employment or training – at the end of 2011.
Figures showed 154,710 school leavers in England fell into the category, figures show, compared with 146,430 a year earlier. In all, it represented 8.1 per cent of teenagers against 7.5 per cent in 2010.
Tim Loughton, the Children's Minister, said the number of NEETs had been "too high for too long", adding: "This is not a new problem".
"Today's figures are also a clear sign that the education system needs to do more to equip young people with the knowledge and skills employers that colleges and universities want," he said.
"But we are determined to tackle it. We are spending a record £7.5billion on education and training, including high-quality apprenticeships. And we are spending £126million over the next three years on extra targeted support for 55,000 16- and 17-year-olds most in need of education and training."
Original source here
More than 20,000 degree students – almost one-in-10 – who left university last summer were without a job six months later, it was revealed.
Figures show that the number of unemployed graduates has increased by around 1,300 in 12 months and more than 9,000 in just four years.
At the same time, more university leavers are also taking up “elementary” positions because of a shortage of well-paid graduate jobs during the recession, it was revealed.
Last year, some 10,270 graduates found work as labourers, couriers, office juniors, hospital porters, waiters, bar staff, cleaners, road sweepers and school dinner servers.
This was almost double the number in 2007 before the recession struck.
Lecturers warned that the disclosure – in data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency – represented further evidence of the “incredibly challenging” jobs market facing former students.
It comes as separate figures released by the Department for Education also showed an increase in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds out of school and without a job or training place.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the figures were “further bad news for students”.
“People working hard at university face an incredibly challenging jobs market when they graduate and the government should be doing more to stimulate jobs and growth,” she said.
“We already have huge numbers of people on the dole and while the prime minister attacks people on benefits he is doing little to help them get off benefits and on with their lives.”
But David Willetts, the Universities Minister, insisted that getting a degree was still a worthwhile move, with graduates likely to earn significantly more over their lifetime than people qualified to A-level or GCSE standard.
In the future, universities will be required to set out details of graduate employment rates – and average future salaries – to give prospective students more information when applying for courses, he said.
“We must ensure that graduates enter the labour market equipped to succeed," he added.
Figures from HESA show that nine per cent of degree students were “assumed to be unemployed” six months after leaving university last summer – the same as in 2010.
But with more students now in the university system, the overall number of jobless graduates increased – from 19,335 to 20,622. In 2007, just 11,020 were without a job.
Of those in work, 14 per cent of ex-students were in sales and customer service positions, including sales assistants, market traders and call centre staff. Nine per cent were in administrative jobs and seven per cent were in elementary occupations, figures show.
However, almost a third of working students – around 47,350 – went into associate professional and technical jobs, covering laboratory technicians, nurses, paramedics, interpreters, police officers and the armed forces. This was the largest single category.
Separate data from the DfE showed a rise in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds officially classed as “NEET” – not in education, employment or training – at the end of 2011.
Figures showed 154,710 school leavers in England fell into the category, figures show, compared with 146,430 a year earlier. In all, it represented 8.1 per cent of teenagers against 7.5 per cent in 2010.
Tim Loughton, the Children's Minister, said the number of NEETs had been "too high for too long", adding: "This is not a new problem".
"Today's figures are also a clear sign that the education system needs to do more to equip young people with the knowledge and skills employers that colleges and universities want," he said.
"But we are determined to tackle it. We are spending a record £7.5billion on education and training, including high-quality apprenticeships. And we are spending £126million over the next three years on extra targeted support for 55,000 16- and 17-year-olds most in need of education and training."
Original source here
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