Why don’t you get a job

The latest unemployment figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) cast a worrying shadow, not only on the job prospects of those soon to enter the job market, but also on the state of the entire British economy. The unemployment rate from July to September climbed 0.2% to 8.3%, with just over 2.6 million people out of work. Yet arguably the worst figures were those in the youth job market, with the unemployment rate of 16-24 year olds at 21.9% – a 23 year high and “the highest since directly comparable records began in 1992.” It is worth noting that of the million young job seekers, around a quarter are thought to be in full-time education, seeking work alongside their studies. With ever-increasing numbers of young people choosing to stay in full-time education, there may be cause to dismiss the figures as inaccurate scaremongering, yet the issue remains a priority for the government, who are paying the price in supporting those who would rather be supporting themselves.

Predictably, the cause of this worrying increase has been widely disputed. Employment Minister Chris Grayling deemed the rise: “a consequence of what we’re seeing in the eurozone” – something, of course, that has been more or less out of the government’s hands. This has been refuted by economists, reiterating the fact that unemployment is a lagging indicator, reflective of what has been happening in the British economy for the last year – not, as Grayling asserts, the result of a recent development. Many instead point to the Coalition’s contractionary fiscal policies in attempts to reduce the budget deficit, in an economy still trying to recover from a global recession.

Labour supporters are happy to blame Conservative policies for the sudden increase in youth unemployment, especially the withdrawal of schemes such as the ‘Future Jobs Fund’ as part of their deficit reduction scheme. “Instead of blaming everyone else and trying to find excuses in the eurozone, the government should recognise that the British economy has been flatlining for a year – long before this recent crisis began. David Cameron needs to start listening, take some responsibility and change course,” announced leader Ed Miliband. Yet his brother, former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has expressed the need for Labour to take some of the responsibility, likening youth unemployment to a “time bomb” that was “not invented by the present government”.

Blame game aside, what can be done? Business Secretary Vince Cable has pledged an increase in apprenticeships for more vocational and practical sectors, whilst Iain Duncan Smith has urged firms to take on young British workers where possible. The release of the ONS figures have prompted the Bank of England to downgrade their prediction for UK economic growth to around 1% over the next two years, leaving little in the way of hope for a growth-led resolution. The Bank also emphasised the increasing risk of the UK falling into a double dip recession, bringing with it the risk of further increases in unemployment rates.

Some slightly comforting news for students: whilst one in four graduates is still likely to struggle to find work, prospects for those leaving university have seen a steady improvement for the first time since the recession gripped the British economy. There are still fears about the adverse effects that may result from the spending cuts, but the unemployment rate for graduates dropped to 8.5% from 8.9% in 2009. Some unwelcome news comes in the form of levelling graduate starting salaries, set against relatively high levels of inflation, but it would seem that for the moment, graduates are at a distinct advantage to their non university educated peers.

In these times of uncertainty, the ONS figures sit uneasily with those who have recently entered or who are about to join the labour market.

Finding jobs in the context of a reduction in supply, sought by ever-rising numbers of increasingly qualified applicants may seem like an impossible situation to resolve, but it is important to remember the power of your degree in winning over potential employers. Spare a thought for school-leavers competing against you; compared to you, they are almost twice as likely to be unemployed.