IS SHOCK EU REFERENDUM RESULT GOOD OR BAD NEWS FOR YOUNG WORKERS?
In case you missed it (!), the British public has just voted to leave the European Union (EU). On Friday it was announced that 52% of those who voted wished to leave (‘Brexit’), while only 48% wished to remain. But what does Brexit mean for graduate jobs?
Before the referendum, we saw some thought-provoking debate on Graduate Fog, with several young readers saying they planned to vote Leave (‘Brexit’). Given the much-repeated statement that young people were more likely to vote to Remain, this was perhaps surprising. But you had your reasons – namely, hoping that fewer job seekers could mean less competition for graduate jobs, and the prospect that employers could be forced to raise salaries to attract the best applicants.
Many of you also said you hoped a Brexit would cause house prices to drop, helping you to get your foot on the ladder. You seemed unconvinced by the case to stay in the EU, saying you weren’t feeling any of the supposed benefits that Remain campaigners based their arguments on.
However, many experts said they feared a Brexit result would be bad news for young job seekers, as it would be unlikely to reduce competition for jobs. In fact, competition for jobs could even get worse, if the economy tips back into recession or employers become nervous about the commitment and cost of hiring new staff, including graduates. As Mike Hill, CEO of graduate website Prospects, 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.”
And Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary, said:
“…if the UK votes to leave the European Union, the knock-on impact to the economy would mean even fewer decent jobs for graduates.”
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, we’re interested to know how you feel about the EU referendum result. Those who voted to Leave, are you pleased with the result, or are you suffering from so-called ‘Regrexit‘? And what are your thoughts if you voted to Remain? Please share your views below – thank you!
The stark reality is that, irrespective of whether the UK remained in the EU or left, the United States of Europe, dominated by a Unified Germany, would have collapsed in due course. On the issue of trade, the UK had amassed a whopping Trade Deficit of £25Bn (Office for National Statistics) for the first three months of 2016, and in the short-medium term, the enlargement of the EU would have had a serious detrimental impact on the UK anyway. However, there are Referendum shortly elsewhere in Europe (including Italy and Hungary), elections in France and Germany, the growth in anti-EU sentiment throughout the EU, and yet Merkel and other Policy Makers were obsessed with survival of the Euro at any cost, and Merkel inviting all migrants to enter Germany.
Returning to the subject….Brexis will have little impact on Graduate Jobs, with employers still having the authority to redesignate jobs as Apprenticeships, Internships, Zero Hour Contracts etc, and if their is an obsession with a race to the bottom, employers will feed off that obsession.
@Eowyn Oh dear, I see you’re not feeling too optimistic!
I’ve just found this on the Guardian – quite interesting?
This is interesting too:
The number of young people looking to work abroad has doubled after Brexit vote, report finds
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-report-freedom-of-movement-young-people-looking-to-live-abroad-doubles-a7107846.html
No regrets. By reducing competition from EU nationals for jobs I think I stand less chance of seeing my wages undercut.
Wrong. We are still in the single market (and will remain there), so EU nationals can live and work in the UK freely.
I doubt they will go for an EEA style agreement guaranteeing free movement given how people voted.
Never thought I’d ever be voting the same way as many of my Tory friends but the recession I graduated into changed the way I look at the world. In a recession EU nationals are competition for scarce jobs. I realise it is a depressing way of looking at the world but don’t judge until you’ve been in the same position – being told you lack experience but employers won’t train you as they can get someone already trained abroad.