An annual research study conducted by the Association for Graduate Recruiters has revealed that 44.2% of all graduate jobs are located in London. Just under 10% are located in the South East; the others are spread across the rest of the UK.
The study, disclosed on Tuesday, indicates that a disproportionate concentration of job's in the UK's capital and the surrounding counties means that graduates will almost certainly have to move to the most expensive part of the country to pursue their first job. The findings also confirm - and compound - a famed division between north and south (Yorkshire and the North East, North West only provided 12% of graduate positions last year) and perpetuates the inflated importance of the capital and the south-east versus the rest of the UK economy, fueling the criticisms of those - most recently and notably members of the BBC high command - who feel that moving anywhere outside this geographical vortex means moving back several centuries.
In fact, several centuries ago, there were other centres of economic prosperity - the factories, shipyards and mills of the north and the coastal towns - and it is symptomatic of the radical conditions of late-capitalism that, post-industry, such a rot of disproportion has set in. It is a self-perpetuating cycle and graduates cannot afford to be stubborn; although similarly and problematically, they cannot afford to live comfortably or conveniently on starting salaries.
People must move where jobs are found and do. However, a central London office rarely breeds a central London flat just around the corner; these few - central London is not a residential area - are reserved for those on salaries far beyond a starter's wage. Many graduates will end up in flats on the end of tube lines; arguably, they would lose no time commuting and rent would certainly be cheaper. Unfortunately though, commuting comes with its own expense. Just as there is no avoiding the move, there is no avoiding the concomitant expense of all contingency solutions.
The move south will be particularly tough for those who have gone to universities in the northern half of the country, and enjoyed the cheaper rents and living expenses that accompany the location. It is a difficult adjustment, and yields a stunning realisation that a sum perfectly adequate for life at university will no longer stretch to the essentials in the capital, even when you add a wage.
Phoebe, GRB Journalist
