Maddalaine Ansell, Chief Executive of University Alliance, said:
“The widely reported CIPD figure that 58.8% of graduates are in non-graduate jobs comes from 2010 during a weak economy. The latest Graduate Labour Market Statistics found that more graduates are in work this year than at any time since 2007 and that graduates earn almost £10,000 a year more than people without degrees.
“The UK economy is a knowledge economy with most new jobs in high skill areas. The Association of Graduate Recruiters’ (AGR) predicted an 11.9% rise in vacancies this year. If we want businesses to innovate and grow, we need more, not fewer, highly skilled graduates.
“Alliance universities are responding by offering practice-based, industry-focused courses which give our graduates the skills employers want.”
Notes for editors
The CIPD has released a report today – Over-qualification and skills mismatch in the graduate labour market – which states the number of people graduating from university is much lower than the amount of high-skilled jobs available.
