Graduate Labour Market in UK - Research Paper Example

?Graduate Labour Market in UK Executive Summary: In this global scenario where technology rules the different aspects of life, the trends have changed, be it in terms of employability or the job itself. It can be seen that the present labour market with regard to graduates finds a high demand for graduates that have studied abroad and have exposure to the international environment. Businesses now look forward to mostly these graduates who have a wide array of skill sets when compared to other graduates who have only studied in the home country. This is mainly because the former has a significant competitive advantage over the latter due to their language skills, better insight, life skills, mobility etc. Therefore, the studying abroad presents the graduates with a lot of employability options which is not available to the other group, thus this shows that studying abroad for at least one semester proves to be a better choice than spending the whole university career in the domestic country. However, on the other hand, there may arise some disadvantage too, that is, when exposed to another culture, the graduate may imbibe some qualities from that culture and when those aspects might not always be understood by the native employer. Despite this shortcoming, it is still seen that employers seek graduates with international perspective, and prefer those who have studied abroad. Introduction: England, right from the early stages of human civilization, has been blessed with a lot of facilities that other parts of the world have not been. The country, with all its power, has spread its civilization and language across the globe, albeit through colonising several parts of the world. However, a fact remains that even in modern times English education qualifies a person with the prospect of employment in every part of the world. On the other hand, with the advent of technology relating to various fields, the concept of qualification for getting employed has changed drastically. Where earlier employment has remained focused more on primary and secondary sectors, the past few years have witnessed a transition where most significance is accorded to tertiary or the service sector. This means that notions about employability have changed in the modern day and so have the concepts about the skill sets required for attaining employability. After the phenomenon of globalisation has blurred geographical boundaries and the integration of cultures occurred, the concept of employability took a new turn. In addition, the multifaceted developments in the fields of “economic, political, technological and social spheres” have modified the “composition of labour supply and the types of labour required by contemporary firms” (Chapter 4 n.d. 90). On the other hand, recent years have seen “rapid expansion of higher ‘tertiary-level’ education” globally (CentrePiece 2007: 7). Therefore, this in itself points to the relation between development and employability, that is, the more technologically advanced the world becomes, the more it calls for highly skilled workforce to use this technology. With the advancement of technology, quality education has become available to all nations across the world and even third world countries became capable of accessing education at relatively cheaper rates. Thus, in an environment, where access to education has become viable for everyone, the monopoly in quality education became irrelevant. More importantly, so far the service industry is concerned, several norms changed to make it compatible to consumers hailing from a variety of backgrounds. In a situation, where tourists and businessmen from a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds visit England, the employees in an English firm needed to modulate their services to accommodate their expectations. Therefore, even for a student studying in Harvard Business School, a necessity arose that he or she be conversant with the intricacies of serving a person from another culture. In turn, the industry in UK, to cater to a diverse group of consumers had no option other than transform the character of their labour market to conform to the changed circumstances and recruit the best potential graduates, who can fulfil the demands of a diverse group of consumers. Definition of Graduate Labour Market: A labour market is defined as a “mechanism through which human labour is bought and sold as a commodity” and education is the most significant component that enables one to be a part of that commodity (Chapter 4 n.d. 90). Thus, graduate labour market can be perceived as a system where human labour constitutes only people who have “completed a degree or higher education qualification within the last six years” (Office for National Statistics 2012: 1). On the other hand, merely passing out from a prestigious college does not make everyone eligible for employment but they have to earn it through practical execution of the concepts they learned. Analysis of Current Graduate Labour Market: The analysis of current graduate market in the UK basically consists of examining the “latest graduate vacancies and starting salaries” at a hundred of the United Kingdom’s “best-known and most successful employers” (High Fliers 2013: 5). These include prominent employers such as Accenture, Apple, Police, British Airways, and L’Oreal etc. Studies have shown that the employers recruited less graduates than that of the target in the recruitment session of 2011-2012, which was evidenced by a “0.8%” decrease in the entry level vacancy as compared to 2011 (High Fliers 2013: 5). It was in industries involving the “accounting and professional services firms and the investment banks” where the target level of recruitment was least met, as employers “reduced their graduate intake by more than 1,200 places” with respect to the initial target (High Fliers 2013: 5). As of 2013, the recruitment is estimated to increase by “2.7%,” and this will take place at “public sector employers, retailers and engineering & industrial companies” (High Fliers 2013: 5). The global trend of graduate labour basically shows that it is the graduate who have acquired diversified skill sets by being exposed to international aspects such as language, culture, better understanding etc who are more likely to attain employability than those who have studied in the same institution and not been exposed to other nationalities in any way. It is also evidenced that employment now requires people to not only be conversant in English but also know an additional language, which would help them in the business world, especially in dealing with consumers from various parts of the world. Studying Abroad and Employability: In this global world, employers look for graduates who are capable from an international perspective, this means both language skills as well as cultural awareness. Various UK graduates prefer to study abroad and grab this opportunity through university programs such as Erasmus. Thus, it is needless to say that in the present day, graduates who have studied abroad for some time have a better chance at employability than the graduates who have remained in UK throughout their university career. A study conducted on recruitment choices of employers called ‘Education and skills survey 2010’ suggests that “65%” of employers prefer graduates who are able to converse in international language in addition to English (British Council n.d. 2). Furthermore, employers seeking for language skills prefer graduates who speak languages such as “French (49%), German (34%) and Spanish (32%)” (British Council n.d. 2). Therefore, it becomes clear that graduates who have the experience of studying abroad are more likely to be employed than those who have not. Moreover, Bracht contends that “mobile students” are believed to be superior to “non-mobile students” due to their “language proficiency, intercultural understanding and knowledge of other countries” (Guresen n.d. 2). Various Skills Acquired by Studying Abroad: There are a number of advantages graduates can receive through their experience of studying abroad. First and foremost is that they have a competitive advantage over the graduates who have studied only in the country and furthermore, they stand out in terms of their wide array of skills and other acquired qualities. The global market is now highly competitive and UK graduates will have to face highly qualified graduates from other countries too, so in order to compete with them, the graduates need exposure to foreign culture as well as they need to be able to converse in languages other than English. Through programs such as Erasmus, students are able to study abroad and acquire these extra qualities that make them innovative and adaptive to different situations. Moreover graduates with foreign exposure also attain certain life skills which they cannot get from merely studying in the home country. Another benefit is that graduates will be able to get a better knowledge of things happening outside UK as well as find out more about other cultures. Morgan Stanley, Managing Director of Corporate Communications asserts “we are looking for people with an international perspective,” and this perspective is unique to graduates who have studied abroad. Therefore, it becomes evident that graduates who have studied abroad have a lot of advantages that are valued by the present day employees and are highly demanded in the labour market. Positions or Jobs Assigned to Graduates Exposed to Foreign Academic Experiences: Global HR News, a survey conducted by US researchers evidences that “8/10 HR executives” seek to provide employment opportunities relating to global roles to graduates who “have studied overseas” (British Council 2013). This is due to the fact that these graduates will have better insight into the trends of the global market in addition to their own home country’s market. The graduates who are exposed to foreign experiences through programs such as Erasmus will mostly be employed in the tertiary sector where they have to provide different kinds of services to a wide array of consumers and clients. It is only logical to assign international roles to students who have studied abroad rather than those who have not, as the former has significant competitive advantage over the other. Therefore, it becomes clear that studying abroad increases the graduate’s likelihood of working in a foreign country to a very large extent. Disadvantages Faced by Graduates who have Studied Abroad: It is seen that when a graduate spends some time abroad, some aspect of the culture of that particular country maybe imbibed in him, which the native employer will not be able to understand. This may be in terms of varied thoughts or actions, which may not be perceived in the same sense by the employer as is intended by the gradate. At most times, the case is that the graduate might not even be aware of this act and it may be totally unintentional. However, when such acts are not correct according to the employer, there is a chance that the graduate will face several problems. The graduate maybe influenced a lot by the culture of the other country and when he or she practices the same when back in the home country, it is not necessary that the employers actually understand them. Thus this can be perceived as one disadvantage to studying abroad. References Office for National Statistics. 2012. Graduates in the Labour Market. Chapter 4: The Labour Market Context of HRM n.d. CentrePiece. 2007. Higher Education and the Labour Market. High Fliers. 2013. The Graduate Market in 2013: Annual Review of Graduate Vacancies & Starting Salaries at Britain’s Leading Employers. British Council. 2013. Employability. Retrieved 5 Nov, 2013, from British Council. n.d. Erasmus- Why Take Part. Retrieved 5 Nov, 2013, from Guresen, Hande. n.d. Erasmus Mobility and Career: The Contribution of Erasmus Programme to Careers of Graduate Participants. Retrieved 5 Nov, 2013, from Read More