Graduates stuck in jobs mire

From the annual Graduate Careers Australia survey:

This section of the Graduate Destinations report examines the progress of new higher education graduates, from all levels of study, four months after course completion, comparing employment and further study outcomes. Table 1 examines the broad outcomes of 2013 graduates by level of award. Outcomes include graduates available for full-time employment (those in full-time employment as well as those seeking full-time employment), those in full-time study, those graduates interested only in part-time or casual employment (whether in it, or looking for it), and those who are unavailable for full-time study or employment.

We see that two-thirds of higher education graduates (66.2 per cent, down from 67.3 in 20121) were available for full-time employment at the time of the survey, a figure that has remained largely unchanged in recent years (fluctuating only between 66.2 and 71.0 per cent since 2003 – GCCA 2003–04; GCA 2005–13). The composition of this group of graduates is described in more detail in Table 1a and Figure 2.

Just over 15 in 100 (15.5 per cent1) respondents went on to further full-time study (see Table 1 and Figure 1). Notable here in Figure 1 is the rise in the percentage going on to further full-time study, as this figure generally rises when the labour market becomes more difficult for those seeking full-time employment.

A comparison of Figures 1 and 2 for the years since 2009 suggest such a relationship. Those with a three-year undergraduate diploma (33.7 per cent) or an honours bachelor degree (29.3 per cent) were most likely to continue their full-time education. Table 1a examines the group of graduates
available for (that is, in, or wanting to be in) full-time employment in more detail. It shows that, of those available for full-time employment, 75.9 per cent (79.7 per cent in 20121) had found it by the time of the 2013 GDS. This 2013 figure is down notably from 80.1 per cent in 20101 and 82.4 per cent in 20091 and represents a decline in employment outcomes for new graduates compared with recent years (see Figure 2).

Of the remaining graduates who were available for full-time employment, a further 14.7 per cent (12.8 per cent in 20121) were working on a part-time or casual basis while seeking full-time employment and 9.4 per cent (7.6 per cent in 20121) were not working while seeking a full-time position (see Table 1a). Both figures are up notablysince 2009 (see Figure 2). These figures indicate that the labour market prospects of new graduates, which fell in the 2009 AGS as a result of the global financial crisis and did not change notably between 2010 and 2012, have again fallen, suggesting that the recruiters of graduates remain cautious in their hiring plans.

I suspect things have improved a little this year. The Roy Morgan unemployment survey is unadjusted and picks up the big graduate surge in the first quarter before falling back later in the year as they are absorbed:

It’s performed marginally better this year than last but still pretty tough out there. Full report here.