A new report from Graduate Careers Australia (GCA), Graduate Destinations 2010, shows that, in 2010, employment prospects for new higher education graduates fell for the second year running.

 

In 2010, 76.2 per cent of bachelor degree graduates available for full-time employment had found a full-time position within four months of course completion. An additional 15.1 per cent were working part-time and seeking a full-time job and 8.6 per cent not working and seeking a full-time position.


The figure of 76.2 per cent was down from 79.2 per cent in 2009 and 85.2 per cent in 2008 and was the lowest figure since 1994.


GCA Research Manager Bruce Guthrie said that employment figures for new graduates had initially been affected by the Global Financial Crisis, and continuing labour market uncertainty amongst graduate recruiters has seen graduate intakes remain conservative.


He advised final year students, who will be new graduates in 2012, to begin their job searches now, if they haven’t already done so, as competition for jobs will be strong.


“We are now into the recruitment season for final year students and it seems that activity might be up a little this year, which suggests that graduate employment figures could show an improvement,” he added.


The 2010 AGS also found that

  • Indigenous graduates were more likely to have been in full-time employment than the total group (80.3 per cent compared with 76.2 per cent);
  • Graduates from a non-English speaking background were notably less likely to have been in full-time employment than the total group (66.0 per cent compared with 76.2 per cent);;
  • Graduates who reported having a disability were notably less likely to have been in full-time employment than the total group (66.3 per cent compared with 76.2 per cent);
  • Females were marginally more likely to have been in full-time employment than males (76.8 per cent compared to 75.4 per cent).

The full report is available here.