Is a degree needed to do a graduate job?
Sometimes media use seems to go in circles. Over the last couple of years there has been a return to the old fashioned newsletter – even if sent the ‘modern’ way by email. Since I am contemplating crafting a couple of newsletters for projects, I have been looking for examples of good practice and design.
One of my favourites is the Marchmont Employment and Skills Observatory monthly mail called South West Skills Newsletter. The title is a bit misleading and if you are interested in labour markets, employment and vocational education and training it is worth subscribing, even if you do not live in the south west of England.
Here is a taster from this months newsletter.
One in eight young people without degrees work in graduate jobs
One in eight young people without degree-level qualifications are working in graduate jobs, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics. In 2017, 12% of non-graduates (327,303) aged 22 to 29 were working in a graduate job – defined as a role where the tasks typically require knowledge and skills gained through higher education. Sales, HR, and retail and wholesale management most common graduate jobs for non-graduates.
This compares with 54% of graduates (1,273,336) in the same age group who had a graduate job.
Like so much labour market survey data it is a bit hard to know what to make of this. Is it that the Office of National Statistics definition of skills is off the mark or more likely that employers know that thes eskills can be gained without going to university. And of course there is still a very large number of 46% of graduates wh9c are not working in graduate jobs.
