The Employment Prospects for UK Graduates - Assignment Example

The employment prospects for UK graduates The employment prospects for UK graduates 0. Introduction With the UK government continually striving to expand and advance higher education, the labour market has demanded more entry of workers who have degrees (Purcell & Elias, 2004). This explains why the graduate labour supply has been recording an increase of graduates in the past decades. In reality, one would argue that the labour market and higher education have a huge correlation. This paper will seek to evaluate the employment prospects for UK graduates. A summary of the employment/earning performance of the present UK graduates will be covered. The paper will also examine the performance of the UK graduates in the past three to five years then investigate the changes and the trends that have been developing in the years. Lastly, the paper will evaluate if the benefits of obtaining a degree exceed the costs. 2.0. The employment/earnings performance of graduates in the labour market The roles of the graduates have been changing over the years especially with the changing nature of the labour market. As seen in the research conducted by Purcell & Elias (2004), graduates in the UK today do a wide range of jobs as opposed to graduates in the past. This fact results from the changes that have been brought about by restructuring of the economy, changes in technology and the increase in the demand for skilled persons to fit in the labour industry (Purcell & Elias, 2004). The supply of labour in the UK is, therefore, changing, and the graduates have no option but to offer services that are required in the labour industry. The employment performance of the UK graduates as Purcell & Elias (2004) indicate is exemplary as the graduates have been said to work in jobs that were related to their long term careers. Since most jobs in the UK require a degree, the respondents in the research of Purcell & Elias (2004) indicated that they were satisfied with their career development. In terms of remuneration, the UK graduates have indicated a considerably good pay since employers have been indicated to pay higher premiums to degree holders as opposed to other employees. With the public sector employing a higher number of graduates than the private sector, the UK graduates are happy with their performance since their skills are required in their present employments; thus, most feel that they are well utilised (Purcell & Elias, 2004). Simply put, the UK graduates may be indicated to be satisfied with their present jobs and also reported higher levels of satisfaction in the manner in which their career was developing. Through an assessment of the graduates’ work, it is easy to assess the worth of the input the graduates put in the workplace. Purcell & Elias (2004) indicate that the graduates receive higher incomes because their input is higher and is required in the market today. In line with this argument, it is warranted to indicate that the valuation of the graduate employees is worth. The UK graduates may be termed as experts that are specialists in their areas if work, and this is a major requirement for their jobs (Purcell & Elias, 2004). The graduates also possess the strategic and managerial skills that allow for development in project planning and improvement. 3.0. The performance of graduates in the labour market and the changes and/or trends developing 3.1. The place of the UK graduates in the past 3-5 years As opposed to the study of Purcell & Elias (2004), the performance of graduates in the labour market over the last 3-5 years present different findings. According to Redman (2013), the graduates in the market today are ones that struggling with the factors that are emerging in the society today. Among the major observations is the fact that the graduates in the market today are ones that struggling to adjust to the changes in the labour market (Redman, 2013). This explains that the graduates do not have the capacity to adjust to new social contexts over time. It is, hence, arguable to indicate that the career maturity of the UK graduates over the past five years is one that is questionable, since a huge percentage of these graduates have displayed lack of proper planning, poor decision making and knowledge in their fields of expertise (Redman, 2013). Their career adaptability is then debatable; thus, their employability is also not fit in the present day UK labour market. The hiring decision in the UK is determined by sustainability of the employer as Redman, (2013) indicates, but for the case of the present day UK graduates, the employers are having extremely difficult times to deal with the new breed of employees. With these findings in mind, the UK graduates can be said to engage less with their career development. A great percentage of them have not transited carefully from the theoretical concepts taught in the classroom setting to practice in the workplace. This means that their career adaptability is questionable going by Brown, et al’s (2012) work. Their cognitive skills are in this context extremely minimal; thus, may not offer the required services in the labour market. 3.2. The developing trends in the UK labour market It is the findings above that relate to the UK graduates not being fully employable that has seen to the developing trends so as the employers can get the best from the “raw graduates”. One of the major trends in the UK labour market in regard to the present graduates is the provision of internships for graduates. According to Redman (2013) in 2009, about 90,000 UK graduates registered under the Graduate Talent Pool (GTP) that offers internships for graduates. Through the internship programs, graduates have been provided with a chance to work in the quest to gain experience in their fields of study since they are exposed to a real working environment after college. The demand by the employers in the UK labour market has led to a higher valuation of the internship programs as a good way for the graduates to start their careers. By 2011, Redman (2013) writes that employment rates in the UK were stable; thus, pushing many graduates in the UK to start their careers in London. However, this was only possible if the graduates sourced for career experience in programs such as intern programs. Yet another trend in the UK labour market today is the use of performance appraisals for the services offered by the employees. As seen in the research conducted by Mitchell (2012), measurement of the achievements of the employees enables the companies to assess if they accrue the best returns from their employees. There has been the introduction of score cards to monitor the progress of the employees, employee reviews and even general assessment of the company output in line with the employees’ contribution Mitchell (2012), with these measures in place, it is possible for the tracking of the graduates’ progress especially in their initial years in their careers. This fact explains the present retention rates of about 45 % and the achievement of the professional qualifications of about 42% (Mitchell, 2012). This trend adopted by the employers ensures that the employees deliver the best and the graduates that cannot keep up with the requirements are slowly outdone by the market requirements. The performance appraisal can also be indicated to make the graduates more efficient in the labour market than before. The use of the social media is yet another developing trend in the UK labour market. According to Mitchell (2012), the social media has been used as an important tool in online marketing and communication in many organisations today. The graduates have no option but to make themselves conversant with this trend as many recruiters today check the frequency in which the graduates reference their ability to apply social media skills in the resumes. Mitchell (2012) writes that the UK graduates that have displayed higher levels of combinations of various skills have been preferred by most employers in the UK. 4.0. An evaluation on whether the benefits of obtaining a degree exceed the costs From the arguments presented above, it is important to evaluate the worth of a degree in today’s UK labour market. Among the major benefits of university education is the earnings paid by the employers to degree holders. According to Purcell & Elias (2004), high earnings are a good measure of the value a degree has and a motivation for others to attain to higher levels of learning. In line with this argument, it is therefore, warranted to argue that the costs an individual incurs in the course of study are not worthless. The study carried out by Purcell & Elias (2004) indicates that the gap between the earning of graduates and non-graduates increases by the years. With the sizeable gap in the earnings, the costs of going to school cannot outweigh the benefits an individual after getting a degree. A good example is that of the 1999 UK graduates that were earning less than 9, 999 pounds but by the year 2002-2003, their salary scale had risen to over 40,000 pounds (Purcell & Elias, 2004). These statistics explain the worth of a degree and how much individuals can benefit from university education. Secondly, Purcell, Atfield & Hogarth (2012) indicate that access to higher education places a graduate a better place to transfer their skills from one place to another. This is because graduates have demonstrated higher levels of skills and effectiveness that is useful for the productivity of a business (Purcell, Atfield & Hogarth, 2012). In line with this thought, it is justified to say that graduates are more employable as opposed to the non- graduates. The costs incurred while undergoing university cannot outweigh the benefits that an individual’s gets after attaining the degree. The occupational constraints and boundaries are therefore minimal for graduates, as would be borrowed from Atfield & Purcell’s (2009) and Purcell’s (2014) findings. 5.0. Conclusion Conclusively, the paper has conducted an investigation into the employment prospects for UK graduates. It is evident that the labour market is slowly changing in the UK. Graduates have been seen to be better placed in the current UK market as they possess skills that are required by most employers. The graduates have also recorded higher levels of wages for their services over the past years. However, emerging trends such as the evolution and the influence of the social media have pushed for the need to have higher skills for the graduates so as they can fit in the labour market. References Atfield, G., & Purcell, K., 2009. Northern Irelands Students: Key Findings from the Futuretrack Stage 1 Survey. Labour Market Bulletin, 22,118 - 132. Brown, A., Bimrose, J., Barnes, S.A. & Hughes, D., 2012. The role of career adaptabilities for mid-career changers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80 (3), 754 – 761. Mitchell, M., 2012. Graduate Salary & Graduate Recruitment Trends Survey 2012. The Dublin: Gradireland. Retrieved from http://www.cs.nuim.ie/courses/desem/sites/default/files/Gradireland%20Graduate%20Salary%20Survey.pdf Purcell, K. & Elias, P., 2004. Seven Years On: Graduate Careers in a Changing Labour Market. HECSU: London. Purcell, K., 2014. Higher education and the graduate labour market. Coventry: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick. Purcell, K., Atfield, G., & Hogarth, T., 2012. The impact of graduate placements on businesses in the South West of England. A longitudinal study to run alongside the Graduates for Business Project. Coventry: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick. Redman, J., 2013. GMT Spring, HECSU. Retrieved from http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/GMT_Spring_2013.pdf Read More