Brexit is leaving recent graduates uncertain of their future and leading them to stay on for further study to try to make themselves more competitive in the job market. Banking and finance in particular have seen a drop in applications from degree finalists due to the worry that big firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are threatening to move their offices elsewhere to stay in the EU, such as in Dublin and Hamburg.
The number of students graduating in 2017 and applying to work in investment banking and finance was 20% lower than in the previous year. That is according to new research by High Fliers, an independent company that conducts research in the graduate employment market. The survey was based on interviews with 20,102 final year students from 30 leading UK universities, several of which are located in London including the London School of Economics, a prime source of talent for banks.
Martin Birchall, the managing director of High Fliers, said that the prospect of Brexit was felt hardest not by firms but by students. “Our latest survey shows just how quickly the impact of last year’s Brexit vote has been felt by university students, 92% of whom voted to ‘remain’ in the EU,” he said.
“Despite many of the country’s best-known employers maintaining a ‘business as usual’ approach to graduate recruitment this year, almost three-quarters of the class of 2017 leaving university this summer fear that there will be fewer graduate jobs available as a direct result of the uncertainty caused by Brexit.”
Just 42% of respondents said that they would be looking for their first job over the summer, which was 2% less than the previous year, while applications from degree finalists to stay on for postgraduate courses have risen for the first time in seven years to 26%. While last year saw three-quarters of surveyed students apply for jobs as part of the graduate recruitment season that rate dropped by 4% this year.
What does it all mean?
More graduates are taking on further study rather than entering the job market. That is often because the rocketing number of degrees – thanks partly to Tony Blair – has reduced the value of the qualification. A 2015 report by Universities UK found that the number of entrants to full-time degree courses had risen by more than a quarter in the past 10 years. Now the uncertainty of Brexit has made students even more keen to stay competitive by undergoing more training in the hope of increasing their chances of having better career options.
With starting salaries in the financial sector reaching £50,000 a year those high-earning roles have traditionally been much sought-after so the new data suggests there will be less demand for those jobs, while students who carry on to further study will presumably end up with more to offer.
Graduates expect to earn an average annual salary of £43,200 within five years of leaving university, according to the High Fliers research, with one in six thinking they will be pulling down £100,000 or more by the age of 30. Far fewer students took up part-time jobs or casual work in the holidays, suggesting that all their focus is now directed at getting the best qualifications possible while half also enhanced their prospects by taking up internships with an average duration of six months. While Brexit is only a contributor to this already intense pressure, the uncertainty about the UK’s future is making things tough for graduates, who happened to vote overwhelmingly against it.
by Stewart Vickers
The post Brexit: Graduates Are Starting to Avoid Work appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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