Back in 1981, Norman Tebbit, a Tory Employment Secretary, suggested that instead of rioting, unemployed people should follow his father's example and get on their bikes and look for work. It was very much a quote of a time when unemployment levels in the UK led to a lot of social unrest.
Mr Tebbit had a reputation for being outspoken and his 'get on your bike' remark was one of his most famous. It polarised public opinion then and if a leading politician came out with the same remark today, it would probably go down like a lead balloon.
In today's economic climate, lots of graduates are struggling to find the first rung on the career ladder. Despite a welcome increase in the number of graduate vacancies in 2011 competition for jobs remains intense. And yet some employers report that they struggle to fill vacancies in certain parts of the country because, they claim, graduates are not as mobile as they once were. The implication being that they should be!
Why might graduates be less mobile these days? There are several possible explanations. To begin with many more students are studying at local institutions (around one in five) and, as a consequence, have not experienced independent living though living away from home. The trend to study near home is likely to develop with rising tuition fees and more courses being delivered in further education.
Next, we have to take into account the costs of starting work. Its not cheap what with the purchase of travel cards, new clothes etc. If you also have to pay rent on a flat, council tax, heating and lighting bills, it takes a big chunk out of the pay packet, that?????s assuming you have enough funds to put down a deposit in the first place. There is also a shift in the attitudes of young people. Gen Y want to live their lives their way and moving into a new locality where you are not known and lack friends has little immediate appeal.
Dismissing a move to a different part of the country, however, can significantly limit career prospects. Do the maths. If person A is only prepared to work within a 5 miles radius of their home but person B is prepared to work up to 20 miles away, person B is increasing the job search area by 800%! If person C is prepared to live and work anywhere imagine how many more potential vacancies will come into play.
It is also worth noting that employers who operate graduate training programmes may expect their trainees to rotate between several work placements during their training and if a candidate is unwilling to move around the country they may well be disqualifying themselves from getting the job.
The upwardly mobile problem seems to be worse away from London towards which there is a well worn path of graduates choosing to emulate Dick Whittington. In the end, of course, deciding how mobile you are prepared to be is a personal decision. I can recall being headhunted for a job that would take me away from my beloved Yorkshire. My wife and I spent a whole weekend debating the pros and cons. In the end I went for it. It wasn't easy moving 120 miles to live and work especially at first but from a career prospective it was the best decision I ever made. Had I not taken the plunge, I would not be doing the job I am doing today - indeed I would not be the person I am today. At the time I convinced myself that the move would only be for a couple of years and then I would return triumphantly to Yorkshire. That was more than 20 years ago. In all honesty, if I was to move back to Yorkshire now it would be as big a wrench as it was leaving in the first place.
My advice to a graduate who is struggling to get their career kick started is not to dismiss a move to another part of the country lightly. It may not suit everyone and some people have family commitments that prevent them moving but not to give it serious consideration is short-sighted.You never know, you may find that the old maxim that there is no place like home is a myth!
Carl Gilleard, AGR Chief Executive
