The better qualified you are, the more likely you’ll work for free…
...so says recruitment firm Adecco. Simply put, they’re saying that young jobseekers (16-24) are more likely to accept unpaid work to get themselves on the career ladder the higher the level of qualification they have, contradicting the oft-levelled accusation that they are part of an ‘entitled generation’. 38% with GCSEs as their highest qualification would work for free, rising to 50% (AS Level); 54% (A Level); 60% (undergraduate degree) and up to 68% of post-grad degree holders saying they’d work for nothing. What are your experiences? Have you worked for no pay to get experience and a foot in the door? Let us know.
New research from the UK’s largest independent graduate jobs board suggests that more and more female graduates are looking at traditionally male-dominated industry sectors such as Banking, Engineering, Energy and telecoms, Manufacturing and Production. Gerry Wyatt, Operations Director at graduate-jobs.com, said, ‘Increasingly female graduates are looking to work in traditionally male-dominated areas, showing that efforts to combat the gender career divide are working. For example, despite male graduates constituting 80 per cent of the graduates looking to begin a career in Engineering, the percentage of female graduates looking for jobs in that section has risen steadily since 2003.’ Are you a female graduate looking for a role in a traditionally male-dominated industry or conversely, are you a male looking for a role in traditionally female-dominated industries such as Secretarial & Business Admin, Charities, Languages, Health and Travel & Tourism? Tell us about your experiences.
We’re not engaged
The latest Kelly Global Workforce Index reckons that UK employees (24%) are less committed to their jobs than their peers in Russia (37%), Norway (42%) and Denmark (45%). Only a third of UK employees feel valued by their employers and as such 67% plan to look for a new job in the coming 12 months. Almost half are currently looking for something new while of these, over 70% admit to looking for a job at least once a week! The HR Director for Kelly Services UK & Ireland Katie Ivie said ‘Engagement levels are comparatively low in the UK compared with other European markets and it’s clear that more needs to be done by employers to provide an environment that will help to retain staff in the long term. This will become even more critical as the war for talent intensifies.’
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