A third of graduates earn less per hour than qualified apprentices
The long-held belief that going to university will guarantee a good job and high starting salary has been called into question again, as new figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal an increasing number of graduates are earning less than non-graduates who have completed an apprenticeship.
Data obtained by MP Frank Field, chairman of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, showed that 29 per cent of graduates earned less per hour than fully fledged apprentices in the four months to June 2016 – a 4 per cent increase on 2015.
Average hourly graduate earnings have remained static at £15.38 per hour since 2014, while apprenticeship pay has risen from £10.77 to £11.02. Conversely, pay rates for 10 per cent of graduates have fallen, and graduates were found to be more likely to be in part-time work than apprentices.
“The market for entry-level jobs is changing,” said Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters. “The apprenticeship levy will change employer behaviour, but those that are recruiting and developing talent in the higher skills ranges are still likely to focus on graduates.”
Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said Field’s findings complement the results of a 2015 CIPD report that identified high levels of graduate over-qualification, with 58 per cent of graduates working in non-graduate roles.
Willmott said there were still too many employers that say having a degree is a requirement for certain roles, even when they don’t necessarily require graduate-level skills – although there is some evidence this is changing. Earlier this year, publisher Penguin Random House announced it would remove the degree requirement from all its jobs, and banking giant Barclays has recently changed recruitment requirements for its call-centre staff.
To address the negative impact of skills mismatches on employee engagement, Willmott said greater awareness of, and better quality, vocational routes into the labour market were needed – including apprenticeships.
Petra Wilson, director of strategy and external affairs at the Chartered Management Institute, said there was a view that higher apprenticeships were now more valued by employers: “Apprenticeships can equip people with a broad range of skills, making them ‘work ready’ in a way that traditional courses can find difficult to achieve.”
Young workers in numbers 24% of graduates work part time 11% of apprentices work part time 29% of graduates earn less per hour than apprentices