380,000 new graduates heading for a lifetime of underemployment

Almost half of the class of 2019 in the UK won’t get a graduate-level job and will remain underemployed, latest figures show. 

The state of the graduate market, 2019: 

• About 800 000 will graduate this year in the UK (HESA, 2018).
• 380 000 of them will be underemployed, taking jobs that do not require a degree (CIPD, 2017).
• Of the 420 000 graduates who do land a graduate-level job, 250 000 will be within tech/digital and IT roles (Graduate Coach, 2019). 

This data has been compiled by Graduate Coach – the UK’s leading graduate coaching company. They have successfully coached 500+ students and graduates helping them to secure graduate-level jobs at a wide range of organisations including Deloitte, Google, IBM, The NHS and more. 

In response to these findings, Graduate Coach has collaborated with CV-Library to commission research to gain a better understanding of why graduates are struggling to find graduate jobs that match their level of education. 

A survey of 1500 graduates revealed: 

• 90% found it difficult to work out what job would suit them best
• 86% found it difficult to write a good CV
• 85% find interviews difficult and nerve-wracking 
• 85% admitted needing work experience before entering the workforce 

Chris Davies, the founder of Graduate Coach said: “This is a sad reality for the graduates and the country because it involves wasted potential.” 

He also reveals: “ there are three main reasons why the 48% of graduates will fail to get suitable work: They don’t know which careers will suit them best, they cannot write good achievement-based CVs and need to acquire interview skills.” 

Chris has been coaching students, graduates and career changers for the past decade. It is his mission to get more graduates into the right graduate-level job. He achieves this via his 6-stage 1-2-1 coaching programme, online coaching programmes, his 2 published books (The Student Book) and (The Graduate Book) and more.