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

Patchwork_Quilt

Some of us are working very hard to get Open University degrees. That's because we can't afford to give up work and pay for University all at once. Why don't you have a look at some of the courses and see what's involved?

Returning to the original point, however, it's not surprising that many graduates don't get the job they envisaged. Young people were funnelled into taking degrees as a means of keeping them out of the job market. Now that is catching up with us. It's a tragedy that so much hope and talent is being wasted.

kabayiri

There is one real crime here. The student loan system, when introduced, was sold by politicians on the basis that yes you would obtain debt but hey you would earn *far* more than a non-grad, thus turning an initial financial negative into a big positive.

Some of us natural sceptics were unconvinced. Increase the number of people with a degree => decrease in value of degree in general. It's supply and demand.

And now they want students to acquire £50K of debt? Does anyone else think this is pure pie in the sky for all but the most gifted (or loaded) students?

I really feel for students being shafted so young.

lostinrates

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

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




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

I think its a waste on borrowed money. However, I see no reason if someone wants to study through evening classes/open university (though that's expensive too) or simply by own dedicated study why people in mundane roles shouldn't enjoy education.

lostinrates

kabayiri wrote: »

And now they want students to acquire £50K of debt? Does anyone else think this is pure pie in the sky for all but the most gifted (or loaded) students?

I really feel for students being shafted so young.

Yes. While there are so many grads chasing ''few'' well paid roles. The system seems ''ok'' while there is a genuine chance with hard work you will be able to realistically repay it, it does not seem ok if we are still encouraging people to read degrees for which their is either orrific oversubscription or very limited employment after it. An option for those very ''specialised'' first degrees might be to wipe them all, and let people study them as post grad after success with a more ''mainstream'' first degree.

lostinrates

re the academic v common sense issue...if more people are going to uiversity why haven't a greater proportion of them got common sense with degrees, or have they?

My in laws, and dh, are more academic than ''common sense'' certainly. However, I think dh is acquiring more common sense as he gets older.

A degree doesn't erase your common sense, its possible to have both. i do not, but I know plenty who do.

gadgetmind

Meanwhile, employers such as ourselves are *desperate* for good graduates but are forced to look overseas. We might be educating people to degree level, but not in the right subjects, and not to the right standard.

Why am I having to employ people from Greece and Spain? Why am I finding myself rejecting local people as they simply don't meet the standard?

It's depressing.

lostinrates

gadgetmind wrote: »

Meanwhile, employers such as ourselves are *desperate* for good graduates but are forced to look overseas. We might be educating people to degree level, but not in the right subjects, and not to the right standard.

Why am I having to employ people from Greece and Spain? Why am I finding myself rejecting local people as they simply don't meet the standard?

It's depressing.

which subject areas are you looking in? where is the short fall for your needs?

Callie22

I'm a graduate (although I don't have any debt, I worked my way through uni so didn't take out any loans) and I have actually considered becoming a cleaner, simply because despite the recession people seem willing to pay an extraordinary amount to have someone else clean their house. There aren't many graduate jobs where you could earn £15 p/h, yet that seems to be the going rate for a cleaner near me.

The organisation I work for demands (and gets) people with PhDs to fulfil fairly mundane admin-type jobs on not much more than £21/22k per year - if you can earn that as a cleaner (and self-employed you probably could take home the equivalent of that per month) then the student debt really does start to seem even more obscene.

Arthurian

Perhaps, along with Martin's campaign for financial education in schools, we need some A level courses on how to set up your own business as an alternative to university. The education business might not like it, though, having a vested interest in keeping the students and their fees.

Lokolo

Arthurian wrote: »

Perhaps, along with Martin's campaign for financial education in schools, we need some A level courses on how to set up your own business as an alternative to university. The education business might not like it, though, having a vested interest in keeping the students and their fees.

It's called Business Studies and already exists.