Drop in graduate job applications

One in five new graduates is out of work, while many more are being forced to take jobs that do not require a degree, according to official figures.

But one North Staffordshire recruitment firm says it has more than a dozen good-quality graduate jobs available – and no-one to fill them.

The roles range from export sales (with the opportunity of overseas travel), engineering, production, marketing and finance, and offer starting salaries of up to £23,200.

But Claire Thomas, managing director of Brampton Recruitment in Newcastle, says graduate applications have fallen significantly this year.

She said: "We just don't seem to be getting the volume of graduates this year. By now we have normally even placed people who are still waiting to do exams.

"It could be because the media is giving them the perception that positions aren't there so they are not looking for them.

"I would say the volume of applications from graduates is down by as much as 50 per cent.

"We have obviously seen an increase in the number of people coming to us, but the percentage of those that are graduates is down."

It comes after data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week revealed that the unemployment rate for new graduates stood at 18.9 per cent in the final three months of 2011.

The figures also showed a rise in the proportion of recent graduates who are taking up lower-skilled jobs after leaving university.

In the final three months of last year, one in three people (35.9 per cent) who completed their degree in the last six years was working in a role that was suitable for a school-leaver.

That is up from around one in four (26.7 per cent) who were employed in lower-skilled jobs in 2001.

But the report added that graduates typically have higher employment rates than non-graduates.

In the final quarter of 2011, 86 per cent of all graduates were in work, compared with 72.3 per cent of those without a degree.

The typical hourly wage for all graduates aged 21 to 64 throughout 2011 was £15.18.

In comparison, non-graduates earned an average of £8.92.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The recession has hit the job prospects of recent graduates but they are still nearly 20 per cent more likely to be in work than people without degrees.

"A lack of high-quality jobs has forced more graduates into lower-skilled jobs over the last decade.

"Raising the skills of UK workers must be accompanied with an industrial strategy focused on boosting high-value industries such as manufacturing.

"Otherwise public investment in education and the talents of UK graduates will be wasted."

Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said the ONS figures made grim reading.

He said: "At a time of record youth unemployment, it is more important than ever that there are opportunities to develop the education and skills we need for economic recovery.

"These figures will understandably make grim reading for many students and graduates who see their opportunities limited, but the expansion of higher education and long-term investment in our future is infinitely preferable to a growing dole queue and a higher benefits bill."

Source: Thisisstaffordshire.co.uk, Monday 12th March 2012