BUT WAGES DO RISE FASTER FOR THOSE WITH A DEGREE
New figures show how almost half of all university leavers have taken non-graduate roles – and the true average graduate salary appears to be far lower than the £29,000 stated previously by statisticians and strongly disputed by Graduate Fog’s users. Some graduates are even earning less than apprentices at the start of their career. Experts called the evidence of a new under-employment crisis “alarming” and a “massive waste”.
The Graduates in the Labour Market study by the Office for National Statistics found that 47% of employed workers who left university within the last five years are in roles which don’t require higher education qualifications. The figure is up from 37 per cent in 2001, with most of the rise occurring since the recession of 2008/2009. The findings heighten concerns about how well Britain’s brightest young people are really getting on in their careers, as well as reinforcing fears that the UK’s recovering economy is built on low-skilled, low-paid posts (occupied disproportionately by younger workers).
The survey also provides intriguing new clues about the true average graduate salary. This has been a subject of fierce debate among Graduate Fog’s users, who say the high-20s figures regularly quoted in the press are only representative of those grads who secure places on the big graduate schemes. You say the rest of you are earning well below that – often in unpaid internships, minimum wage zero-hours contracts jobs or high-teens salaries that never seem to grow and don’t keep pace with the rising cost of living.
But there was some good news! Annual earnings for graduates increase at a faster pace as they become older – and graduates are more likely to be in work than those without a degree. Overall, graduates find their salaries level out in their late 30s at a median level of £35,000 a year. That’s well above those without a degree, but only £6,000 above the average graduate starting salary stated by High Fliers (£29,000). Does that mean that in 17 years (from age 21 to 38), salaries are only rising by six grand? Graduate Fog isn’t great with stats, but it’s clear that something doesn’t add up here.
**GOOD WITH NUMBERS? Please add any additional analysis in the Comments below!**
Who is earning the most? Medical graduates in their mid-30s had the highest median pay at £45,600. Other courses which were comparatively high-paying include engineering (£42,000), physical and environmental sciences (£36,000), and architecture (£35,000).
But media and information studies graduates had the lowest salaries, at £21,000. Can that mean that in their mid-30s, media graduates are earning an average of £8,000 less than the supposed figure for today’s average graduate starting salary? Others degrees which led to comparatively low-pay jobs were linguistics, English and classics (£26,400) and arts (£21,900). Graduates most likely to be out of work included humanities (84 per cent employed), arts (85 per cent) and languages (87 per cent).
The data also revealed various other trends, with graduates from Russell Group universities being more likely to work in high-skilled roles, compared with those from other institutions, and to therefore earn a higher average hourly wage — £18.60, compared with £14.97.
Dr John Philpott, director of The Jobs Economist, said:
“The pre-recession rates of underemployment of graduate skills in the UK economy were already disappointing — the post-recession rates represent an alarming jump in underemployment and a massive waste of investment in skills.”
Steve Radley, director of policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said:
“The figures show that graduates have not escaped the squeeze on pay but they also highlight the major impact that subject choices have on earnings. Graduates in engineering are the second highest earners and those in physical sciences earn far beyond average also.
“We need a concerted effort to get more young people studying the science and engineering degrees that will drive our economy forward and more of them taking up well paid opportunities.”
And Andrew Hunter of jobs search engine Adzuna added:
“The economic recovery has reinvigorated a wilting jobs market, with the number of advertised jobs in September 3 per cent higher than a year ago. There are now just 1.9 jobseekers competing for each vacancy, compared to 2.3 in September 2012.
“But for those who are fresh out of university, the prospects of finding that first job remain gloomy. Despite signs of a wider jobs recovery, the pickup in the graduate jobs market has been less pronounced. In the face of fierce competition, many grads are being forced to take on lower-skilled jobs.”
While the new stats paint a troubling picture of the reality of the graduate under-employment problem, Graduate Fog welcomes any new data that provides a more accurate picture of the true situation our users are facing. We knew that £29,000 graduate starting salary figure wasn’t right. Now there is the data to prove it. Let’s hope this is the first step to policy-makers giving graduate under-employment the serious attention it needs.
*WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE TRUE AVERAGE GRADUATE SALARY?
How much are you earning – and what about your friends? What do you think of these new figures? If you’re ‘under-employed’, what’s stopping you from securing the job and the salary that your skills are worth?
I can only dream of earning the “lowest salary” mentioned (£21,000); maybe by the time I’m 30 perhaps. I’ve been working temporary jobs earning £12-15,000pa but the work has since dried up so back to square one.
To be honest it is devastating to your self esteem. We are sold a lie that if you stay in education, work hard and get a degree in a good area you are almost “guaranteed” a £20k+ salary. When you have to fight tooth and nail just to get paid a little over minimum wage you feel like you have failed in life. You feel like you are not even good enough to earn that minimum wage…you just don’t deserve it. I try to stop myself thinking these thoughts, but without a stable job on an “average graduate salary” you just feel like you are kidding yourself.
Sounds about right £12k-15k – an exciting life of photocopying, answering the phones and running errands awaits with no ‘work your way up’ just rinse and repeat after a year with a new hopeful.
Atrocious as the salaries are now, I’m not even that concerned with the money any more. It’s more the fact that there is little hope for progression unless you can get some good quality experience of a certain duration that those online jobs boards need. Just to actually be employed doing something that requires some brain power and not have the constant guilt, shame and mind-numbing tedium of applying for jobs everyday…
I can only sympathise as a law and LPC grad myself who is mainly unemployed and sometimes underemployed doing unchallenging work with huge gaps on my CV. Law is a very difficult area to enter and stay in, mainly due to the insane numbers of people applying for each job. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve gone to interviews and been in the top 2/4 only to walk away unsuccessful. You would think that a degree in law opens up doors, but unless you are interested in accountancy, finance or sales, it seems you are stuck trying to convince someone why they should employ you when your CV screams ‘law’ throughout. Grad schemes also go out the window after a few years it seems. I think it would be good if they told people not to apply if they graduated more than, let’s say, 3 years ago. Would save you from eye-strain filling out those only apps.
I was definitely sold the idea that “law opens doors”; “it will set you up for life” people used to tell me. If anything it has been a barrier to employment as many employers have a silly presumption that you will up and leave for a high flying legal job within a matter of months (chance would be a fine thing!).
In terms of getting into law the options to me seem very limited:
1. Legal administrator (as above nobody wants a law graduate, too risky “as they won’t stay in the position long).
2. Legal secretary – all require a minimum of six months experience, again “graduates will only want to progress out of the role”
3. Legal executive – employers expect it all: experience (often 12 months) and even an LPC, but will pay a pittance for it (£16,000-18,000 seems a “competitive” salary)
4. Solicitor – Not a chance
I feel sick. A friend I used to go to school with is working as an analyst for sainsbury’s. No qualifications beyond GCSE, very average ability (generally speaking), yet I and others not only attained top degrees, but are very able yet unable to get any job at all. There is no value placed on intelligence in this day and age. University is a waste and should be avoided at all costs. Get a job as a shelf stacker and work your way up to management.
University education is the biggest mis-selling ever.
With A-level results day tomorrow, I can only shake my head in disbelief that young people are still going to university in their droves to do a BA/BSc degree.
As someone with the benefit of hindsight (BSc, MSc) I would like to tell these young people how it really is. No one will listen but they will find out sooner or later that their piece of paper is massively over-priced and of very little value in the real world.
This also applies to STEM (which I did my degrees in). There is a myth that there are lots of jobs in STEM but it is exactly that – a myth.
I have a particular dislike for websites such as “the student room” which perpetuate the myth that grades and university is the be-all and end-all.
The bottom line – if you must go to university then do a vocational course with placements and on the job training. Otherwise do an apprenticeship or get a job.
Btw, it doesn’t matter if you go to “good” universities like Bristol, Exeter, Manchester etc. as 10s of thousands of graduates come out of these universities every year.
A levels, UCAS, UKCAT, student accommodation etc are all money making scams.
University is a ponzi scheme.