CLASS OF 2014 TO EARN LESS THAN CLASS OF 2008
** Woop! We’re in today’s Telegraph! Jobs market opens up for graduates as businesses expand **
Graduates have received mixed news today as it emerged that the number of graduate jobs available is set to rise this year — but the salaries offered will drop. One analyst has even admitted that in real terms the Class of 2014 will be paid less than the Class of 2008, as employers know they still hold all the cards and can afford to drive down wages.
According to a new report from Incomes Data Services (IDS), which surveyed 100 firms — from big to small — employers are expecting to hire 18% more graduates this year, following a modest upturn of 4.3% last year.
Things are looking especially good for graduates keen to enter financial services, where recruitment is expected to increase by 42% this summer, following a fall of 3% in 2013. There is also good news for those pursuing careers in the manufacturing and service sectors — both are expecting to increase their graduate recruitment by 22%.
But the recruitment upturn will not mean higher graduate starting salaries. The IDS’ annual “Pay and Progression for Graduates” report found that the majority (57%) of employers froze their graduate starting salaries again last year, continuing a trend from the start of the recession, and 65% have not increased their rates for 2014.
In both 2013 and 2014 the median “increase” in starting salaries was zero. Just 22% of graduate employers now offer their new recruits a “golden hello”, down from half six years ago. Law firms offered the highest median graduate salaries last year, at £35,000, followed by financial services firms with £26,500.
IDS said the boost in the number of vacancies would be welcome news for the growing numbers of candidates chasing each job — especially as the research shows there were 60 applications for every vacancy in 2013 compared to 49 in 2011. But the news on salaries was a sign that employers are aware that they still hold all the cards. Nasreen Rahman, Assistant Editor at IDS, said:
“Recruitment prospects for this year’s crop of graduates look brighter than they have for a long while as the number of job opportunities is set to rise sharply.
“Some sectors such as finance appear to be making up for lost time, aiming to recruit several times more graduates in 2014 than they did in 2013.
“[But] employers are keeping a tight lid on what they are willing to pay their new recruits. Graduate starting salaries are still effectively frozen, so those fortunate enough to be recruited onto a training programme will be paid less in real terms than their predecessors as employers take advantage of the competition for places. The class of 2014 will be paid less than the class of 2008.”
It is always good news to hear that the number of graduate jobs is set to rise – and we suspect that readers won’t mind that salaries are frozen if it means there are more jobs around. However, Graduate Fog is disappointed to hear that some employers continue to view the competition for jobs as a reason to keep graduate salaries from rising as they should.
*ARE EMPLOYERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GRADUATES’ DESPERATION?
Is it unfair that bosses are taking advantage of the stiff competition for jobs to keep wages at 2008 levels? Or are you okay with earning a smaller graduate salary, as long as it means there will be more graduate jobs available?
Wait until the rest of these jobs are offshored to India! And then salaries will plummet even further….
In the meantime, property prices are rising and the cost of living not getting any cheaper! How ironic!
Today in The Guardian and Daily Mail there are articles concerning Kirstie Allsopp’s criticism of women for increasingly leaving it ‘too late’ to start their families. With property prices continuing to skyrocket, particularly in the south of the UK, along with the suppression of wages, this is something which is only going to get worse.
Here’s a link to The Guardian’s article: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/02/kirstie-allsop-young-women-ditch-university-baby-by-27
@A4e Sucks
Interesting – do you mean because couples want to feel financially stable before they think about starting a family?
@Tanya de Grunwald
Yes, I think financial stability is important to many couples before considering starting a family- perhaps this a bit more likely to be the case amongst graduates? Also, many people would like to be on the property ladder before bringing children into the world, which is understandable considering that short-term contracts are still the norm in the rented sector. There even seems to be an increasing number of landlords who specify ‘no children,’ the landlady of the house next to the one I used to rent being one of them.
Sheer propaganda. Many graduates have been working in graduate jobs but on non-graduate wages – in call centres, as sales assistants. Can a recent graduate working as a basic call centre worker segregate his or her skills into graduate and non-graduate and then apply only their non-graduate skills to their job.
I suspect that there are some employers who covertly treat their graduate employees in their non-graduate jobs differently from their non-graduate colleagues. I suspect the line manager is given instructions to eencourage him or her – dangling the carrot in front of them.
These ‘new’ graduate jobs will be like gold dust and candidates will have to jump through the hoops.
@ Brian
Call-center work & sales assistant positions are NOT graduate positions. I would be surprised if employers cared a tuppence about segregating skills internally, it creates more friction (favoritism) than anything else between employees.
I have been there and have seen the hate relationships develop in the organization between those with a degree and those with not even 5 GCSE grades A-C to their names but with 5 years of work experience behind them.
Cheap (and if educated to degree level a bonus), that sums up the world of work in the UK. For those with a university education unable to get a place on a Graduate Management Programme, you’ve had it, your career is sealed.
@ Nicholas
Since when did the world owe you a living?
Employers would pay nothing if they could get away with it. Scum the lot of them.
@Alan- that is what the DWP is banking on when trying to get employers to take people on workfare schemes.
@ Delia
Absolutely no-one…I am just stating the obvious…I made the mistake of going to university, I would not want others to do the same, in-debt, behind career wise and on a minimum wage without knowing the truth that applies to the majority….
Hi all –
On the point about the value of university – did you see the new figure out today that says 20,000 students have demanded more from their uni in the last 12 months? Would be great to hear from grads on this too – did your university provide good value for money?