Figures released from the Office for National Statistics have shown that more than a third (35.9%) of recent graduates who have found a job are doing 'low skilled' work, including being a postman, hotel porter, catering assistant, driver, carer, shop assistant, secretary or cleaner - not your typical graduate job.
This is 500,000 people out of the 1.5 million graduates of the last six years. This statistic shows an increase of 10% more university graduates taking on 'low-skilled' jobs in the last decade, as in 2001 only 26.7% of recent graduates were doing 'low-skilled' jobs. Graduates are also leaving university with up to £50,000 in debt, yet still earning less than the average wage, the average graduate earning £15.18 per hour. This statistic suggests that 35.9% of graduates are therefore doing a job they could have got if they had left school at 16.
The Guardian explains that these figures will 'lead young people to question the value of university education' and Matt Churchwood (director of the Green Recruitment Company) has gone as far as to call these 'grim' statistics 'the winter of discontent' of the job market for graduates. Churchwood went on to pose the question that 'If three years of study leaves them with a McJob, is it worth it?', his jokey language not hiding the ominous undertones of his subject.
Despite these bleak figures however, the Office for National Statistics have shown that people with degrees typically earn far more than people without degrees. The average hourly wages for people with degrees was £15.18 (from all age groups), whereas the average earned by people without degrees was 70% lower - £8.92 per hour. This does help bring concerns among parents and their children about whether a degree is 'worth it' into perspective
