In a bid to secure their dream job post-university, graduates are working more hours than ever. One in seven graduates has a working week of more than 50 hours with the figure rising to 18% of those in London, says Graduates Prospects' annual Real Prospects survey.
It seems that graduates feel increasingly under pressure to enhance the hours they spend at work in a bid to prove their worth and commitment to new employers. In fact, just under half of the 22,000 graduates surveyed admitted that they felt Compelled to work much more than their contracted hours in order to demonstrate their enthusiasm, drive and solid work ethic and secure the opportunity for further development. 71% of recipients named legal services as the most pressurised work sector with accountancy (54%) and PR and marketing (53%) following closely behind.
Mike Hill, Graduate Prospect's Chief Executive said: "Generation Y has been regarded as the 'lazy generation', favouring life over work, but the research points to quite the opposite with many graduates developing a strong work ethic as in previous generations". "This is undoubtedly a sign of the times. The labour market remains uncertain and the full impact of the public sector cuts is yet to be seen. Graduates are working hard to ensure they remain in employment and get ahead," he added.
It seems that this generation of graduates are more in touch with their current market than onlookers would assume; more graduates than ever now accept unpaid work experience as a prerequisite for securing employment. In a time when one in three financial recruiters check candidates' online footprints, scouting the backgrounds of potential new recruits, it seems that graduates are having to be more careful, ruthless and accepting than ever in order to secure that first post-university job.
Graduates are applying for more jobs than ever and earlier than in the year than ever; research shows that many graduates are now beginning the application process as early as September of their final year. Generation Y seems to be under no illusion as to the strong competition they face in order to secure employment and furthermore the toil they will face in order to retain it.
In addition to going above and beyond their contracted hours, the Graduate Prospects' annual Real Prospects survey shows that only 53% of those surveyed were satisfied with their salary. 77%, or just over three-quarters, earn less than ??30,000 a year, with the majority of graduate salaries falling between ??20,000 and ??25,000. Overall, a third of those involved in the survey admitting that they feel their pay and benefits package makes them worse off than colleagues in similar roles. Graduates are continuing to work harder than ever for, seemingly, less pay in order to retain a job and avoid frantically chasing some of the heavily Oversubscribed jobs with an application to job ratio of 83:1. 'Lazy generation' - I think not.
Elise, GRB Journalist
