‘BREXIT’ WILL MEAN FEWER GOOD JOBS AND SHRINK YOUR CHANCES OF BEING ABLE TO WORK ABROAD, EXPERTS HAVE WARNED
*UPDATE! REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MIDNIGHT TONIGHT (THAT’S 11.59PM, 9 JUNE)
Have you registered to vote in the EU referendum? If not, please get your act together — the deadline is midnight tonight (7 June). This is hugely important — and yes, your vote really does matter.
In fact, politicians, economists and campaigners are BEGGING young people to sign up, as the latest polls show that ‘Brexit’ (the group wanting Britain to leave the EU) has the lead against ‘Remain’ (the group that thinks we should stay in the EU). So far, only half of under-24s have registered to vote.
Which side you vote for is up to you — but having looked at the options, Graduate Fog will be voting to Remain. This is for many reasons, including the fact that we believe it’s in graduates’ best interests.
Leaving the European Union would mean fewer good jobs for graduates – and it will also shrink the chances of you being able to work abroad, several experts have warned. One has even said the a ‘Brexit’ referendum result would be ‘potentially disastrous’ for young jobseekers.
Haven’t registered? Do it TODAY! (9 June – deadline is midnight tonight) It takes 5 minutes. It helps if you have your National Insurance number (which you’ll see on your payslip or any tax letters you have) but it’s not essential. Just click this link to register now
First to raise the alarm about the impact of a ‘Brexit’ vote was Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary. Speaking just after the latest revelations that more than one in three graduates is doing a non-graduate job, she said:
“There are simply not enough quality jobs for young people leaving university. Far too many graduates are being forced take on roles which do not make the most of their talents.
“If we don’t create better opportunities for younger people in the labour market, we will not be able to build the highly-skilled workforce we need to boost productivity and compete on the global stage.
“And if the UK votes to leave the European Union, the knock-on impact to the economy would mean even fewer decent jobs for graduates.”
Her views have since been echoed by Mike Hill, CEO of graduate careers website Prospects, who said:
“Cross border collaboration is essential for both higher education and business to thrive. Leaving the EU would be potentially disastrous for the graduate jobs market, both on a large multinational and more local SME level.
For business, being part of the EU enables access to this market and through trade deals with developed and developing economies. There will be reduction in UK investment as people move to invest in continental Europe, particularly Ireland. As we saw in the last recession, the graduate labour market is particularly vulnerable to issues in the financial market, which we will see if Frankfurt takes over as Europe’s financial capital.”
NOT SURE? THEN VOTE REMAIN: Student finance campaigner Martin Lewis says leaving the EU is too big a risk to take
He warned that a ‘Brexit’ would also scupper the plans of UK graduates who want to work abroad, saying:
“A Brexit will affect the ability of young people to work and learn in the EU. We will be slamming the door in the face of some of our most motivated and talented individuals. The free movement of labour — properly regulated — is an immense benefit to our graduates as they move into and through the labour market.”
And he warned voters of his generation:
“Our children and grandchildren will rue the day if the UK votes against its long-term interests to leave Europe. My own children are 23 and 19, and I don’t want to see their long-term life chances shrunk by short term considerations.”
* HOW DO YOU PLAN TO VOTE IN THE EU REFERENDUM?
Tell us whether you think the UK should leave the European Union, or remain part of it…
“BREXIT’ WILL MEAN FEWER GOOD JOBS AND SHRINK YOUR CHANCES OF BEING ABLE TO WORK ABROAD, EXPERTS HAVE WARNED”
Group Think is not a trait to admit to….under any circumstances. However, perhaps those who suggest that they are “Experts” have been sleepwalking over the fast few years. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Conservative’s have relaxed Working Conditions, allowing employers to replace Salaried Jobs with Unpaid Internships, Apprenticeships and other contrived routes.
I am more than happy to give Bremain the Benefit of the Doubt…if, in the remaining weeks before the Referendum, David Cameron and the Remain Group are able to offer a cohesive reason why the UK should Remain.
Of course, if the UK opts for Brexit, it has been reported that the EU will demand a second Referendum.
Strange thing to post. Repetition of one side of a debate without analysis is exactly the sort of thing that stops people becoming graduates in the first place when their examiners see it.
@Robert Seddon Sorry you didn’t like the post! 🙁 But Graduate Fog is a blog, not the BBC (!) so we have no duty to be impartial. In general, I describe the editorial as simply ‘pro graduates’. As editor of the site, I took the decision that the Remain position is the most in-line with this. Do you disagree?
@Eowyn Rohan I agree that nobody knows what will happen if we leave the EU, but I do think it’s unlikely that it will become easier for graduates to work abroad than it is now. If we make it harder for people from other European countries to work here, why should they keep it simple for us to work there?
Tanya is entitled to her view as is everyone else but I will be voting for Brexit.
Brexit is likely to lower house prices therefore increasing the chances of me being able to get on the property ladder.
Brexit seems to be in my economic self-interest:
*Less competition for jobs from East Europeans
*Less pressure on the public services I use
*Less competition for housing should lower rents.
Also in my father’s industry East European labour is a direct threat to his job by undercutting wages so I’ll be voting for Brexit for that reason alone!
I am split but only for personal reasons.
I was planning surgery in Europe so I want the pound to remain strong against the Euro.
Otherwise I don’t give a sheet. The UK is finished, anyway. Class system, low wages, few jobs, cuts to public services, population will probably increase to 75 million soon enough as well. If we vote OUT and the UK by some divine intervention does because a fair and just society, it will take at least 15-20 years and I will be in my 40s (or maybe dead) by then. My life will already be determined and half of it will have gone already.
It’s all just a joke to me because I can see right through it all. We’re going to stay in anyway so don’t bother.