Graduates now 'more likely to end up as cleaners', official figures show

Lokolo

Percy1983 wrote: »

I will say a degree doesn't make somebody good for work.

I remember where I use to work and we had a volunteer graduate scheme where they worked for use and got work experience (we where a charity I will add), now don't get me wrong many where great, but mnay where also unemployable, cleaver as hell of paper but none of the other life skills where present.

My graduate job, at the final interview there were 6 of us (~300 applicants we were told). All of us had done a work placement.

Experience is key nowadays, not just a piece of paper.

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

So hands up, who thinks it's a waste of this countrys (borrowed) money to educate our cleaners to degree level?

The number of degree students ending up in low to lower-skilled jobs has grown from 9pc to 17pc over the past 18 years, a fresh analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.

17%!!! That's just nuts surely!!

Pimperne1

Any job should be appreciated by most people nowadays. I saw a comment by a "Financial Planner" the other day criticising Mcdonald's jobs etc (he called them McJobs). For goodness sake, the only closer to having a McJob than being a Financial Planner is if you actually work in McDonalds itself.

Loughton_Monkey

Surely this type of statistic is predictable and logical?

When I went to University, my understanding is that only around 5% of the population went (1968). At the same time, an unknown number used to go to other institutions such as Technical Colleges, Teacher Training College, Nursing School..... and ended up with 'diplomas' or 'City & Guilds' or similar. They were not called 'degrees'.

Since then, we have had (a) a genuine rise (I assume) in the percentage going to 'real' university, (b) the re-classification of all the 'techs' as "Universities", and (c) probably a natural increase in those going to this type of institution as well.

And then there's the "Open University" degree as well, for which my understanding is that you get the degree as a result of watching a few hours of television.

So we are not comparing 'like with like' here.

If a Mathematics graduate from Oxford cannot find a 'proper' job, then I'm worried.

If a BA(Hons) in Performance and Visual Art (Dance) at Brighton University cannot find a 'proper' job, then I find it neither worrying nor surprising.

I am presumably not the only one who shares grave concerns as to the educational standards of today. I would love to think that I am wrong, but every time I talk to recent 'graduates', I tend to get confident "knowing" looks from such graduates (with the wisdom of Soloman), coupled with their firm commitment to ensure that they never earn more than £15K so that they never have to pay back the student loan.

I am currently putting together a new "University of Loughton", which will offer a degree in "Logic". Thanks to some of the posts on MSE, I have more than enough 'material' for the course. One whole module can be devoted to the 'logic' of how someone can be 'Intelligent' enough to get a degree, and yet at the same time be 'Ignorant' enough to deny himself a lucrative career in order to save a few thousand quid, but at the same time deny himself 10 times as much in salary.

StevieJ

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

Oh definitely in general. Intergenerational theft I think it's called.

Wait a minute, who are doing the degrees, not many Baby Boomers I would guess, only 5% of them had that opportunity

Loughton_Monkey

Wait!

I have a brilliant idea.

330,000 degree courses available. Let's introduce legislation to make 130,000 of these 'real' subjects [Engineering, Maths, Sciences etc.]. The other 200,000 are forced to be in one of three subjects [Cleaning, Burger Flipping, and Benefits Claiming]. This will ensure that everyone can (and probably will) get a job commensurate with their degree.

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

And then there's the "Open University" degree as well, for which my understanding is that you get the degree as a result of watching a few hours of television.

ha ha I'm sure there is more to it than that :rotfl:

Road_Hog

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

One whole module can be devoted to the 'logic' of how someone can be 'Intelligent' enough to get a degree, and yet at the same time be 'Ignorant' enough to deny himself a lucrative career in order to save a few thousand quid, but at the same time deny himself 10 times as much in salary.

Because they're educated idiots, they do not have intelligence.

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

One in five graduates earns less than a person who left school with as little as one A-level.

The official figures raise doubts that thousands of students have wasted their time with ‘useless’ degrees.

20 per cent of graduates earn less than £10 an hour, the amount they would have earned without a degree.
The figure could be even worse in reality because the ONS did not include graduates who are unemployed or who have never worked.

Business groups have repeatedly warned that employers are turning their backs on graduates.

A recent report from the British Chambers of Commerce said too many graduates have ‘fairly useless degrees in non-serious subjects’.

Phil McCabe from the Forum of Private Business said: ‘The value of a degree is dwindling.’

Tanya de Grunwald, founder of Graduate Fog.co.uk, a website for job-seeking graduates, said many are devastated by the salaries they are offered.

She said: ‘Finally, the figures from the ONS back up what our graduates have been saying – that they are just not getting the quality of job that they thought their degree would lead to.

‘One politics and economics graduate told me a massive career low was when he got a day’s trial at a pound shop – and did not get the job.

‘People say that a graduate typically earns £26,000, but this doesn’t reflect the reality. Many of them are just scraping the barrel.’

One anonymous contributor to a student website wrote: ‘If I could have my time back, I wouldn’t have gone to university.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2029593/1-5-graduates-earning-school-leaver.html#ixzz1W3KxITI9

Loughton_Monkey

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

ha ha I'm sure there is more to it than that :rotfl:

I have been accused a million times of exaggeration. But in this case, maybe I missed the need to fill in an application, and perhaps copy and paste a few words from the Internet to get the OE degree.