Graduate Opportunities 2021

What’s happening with graduate opportunities 2021?

7 predictionsfrom the Prospects and Gradconsult labour market experts:

• 2021 very likely to be betterin job market terms than 2020, but probably not until later in the year. We won’t get back to pre-pandemic employment this year. Overall, unemployment may continue to rise, however, non-graduates will be impacted far worse than graduates
• More graduate jobs: A sharp increase in economic activity is expected over the summer into the autumn, resulting in more graduate jobs available
• SMEs will play a central role in recovery: this is becauseIn recoveries, SMEs create jobs faster than bigger players. SMEs will be central to graduate job creation and economic recovery and It is key for students to engage with the benefits of working for SMEs
• Virtual working will stayin parts: The large majority of workforces in IT, professional services, tech etc. are now working from home with little effect on productivity. This has implications for mobility: workers may be able to work for a business in Expensive City but not live there.
• Getting a career outside of yourdegree subject is not a failure, it is the norm.  The graduate job market in the UK is non-linear: this means graduates do not necessarily work within the area you studied at university and instead use their degree as a platform for working in a not-directly-related field.Law, sport and psychology are good examples of this but it is a message to all students to widen their horizons when considering options.
• Graduate mobility is keyto filling posts: Many graduates have stayed at home this year and may be reluctant to move away, this may pose a problem for some areas in the country where graduate opportunities are already hard to fill.
• Graduate skills shortages: We entered the pandemic short in graduates in many areas of health, social care, education, engineering, IT etc. Demand in most of these areas has held up and we will leave the pandemic still short in many areas. Many firms in these fields say Brexit makes it harder. UK talent in these areas will be in serious demand. The picture of pent-up demand will become clearer over the summer Skills shortages and Covid19

For more advice about the pandemic and graduate jobs see: https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk and  graduate job hunting tips 2021 from targetjobs

Tis blog is based on a presentation by Charlie Ball, Head of HE Intelligence at Prospwects and Rebecca Fielding, Founder of Gradconsult, delivered in March 2021, which can be found here Predictions for the 2021 graduate labour market | Luminate (prospects.ac.uk)

Charlie Ball, Head of HE Intelligence/ Prospects and Founder   Fielding, discuss predictions for the UK graduate labour market in the video here: Predictions for the 2021 graduate labour