Graduate pay is going to fall to lower than it was in 2003

government gradaute schemes 150New graduates are facing worse starting salaries this summer than if they had graduated 10 years ago

The cost of living is starting to outpace the increase in graduate salaries, with graduate salaries falling to their lowest level since 2003 according to a recent report from the Incomes Data Services (IDS).

The current typical pay rate for an entry level graduate job is frozen at £25,000, but when looking at inflation rates graduates face a 2% pay cut from last year (£18,705). The last time salaries were this low was 9 years ago when they stood at £18,524, with a peak over this decade of £20,601 in 2008.

Nasreen Rahman, principal researcher at IDS, said: "It remains a buyer's market for graduate recruiters this year, with starting salaries set to stagnate for a further year.

"High rates of price inflation over the last few years have been eating away at the purchasing power of starting salaries for new graduates."

The study found that 9 in 10 graduate employers intend to freeze graduate pay rates this year, despite a similar number looking to employ more university leavers compared to last year.

The demand for graduates is showing signs of improvement, yet competition for graduate jobs means that employers are able to keep the current rates as graduates become desperate to land a job. There were 46 applicants chasing every job in 2011 which was up 12% on the previous year, with unemployment in the UK set to remain at a 17 year high according to recent figures.

Share and Connect

                                        

 What are these?

Follow, connect, link to us

Follow on Twitter

Follow Pareto on Twitter

Link to us

Connect with Pareto on LinkedIn

Read our Blogg

Read our recruitment blog

Connect with us

Read our recruitment blog

 

[Search]