Graduate jobs and internships may be affected by COVID-19 recession
UCL Graduation 2017
As the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown begin to show in the labour market, the future for many UCL students remains unclear. Anna Vall Navés reports.
The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown in the UK have sparked fears that university students’ career prospects will be negatively affected. Student employers in the UK are either having to find alternative ways to provide internships and graduate jobs or freezing recruitment amid predictions of a global recession. Many university students have found their summer or long-term plans changed last-minute, and surveys now suggest that almost 40% of students are worried they will not be able to find a job at all.
While the circumstances may seem grim, several careers experts have pointed out that it is too early to tell what the future will hold for student employment – particularly in the long term – as the pandemic has led to a volatile and rapidly-changing situation. Early research into the labour market has nonetheless pointed towards some possible trends for the coming months.
According to a survey by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), more than a quarter of businesses will be reducing the number of graduates they recruit this year. Internships will also be reduced by almost a third. A further 28% of employers hiring graduates and 31% of those hiring interns are still unsure what the impact will be on recruitment numbers.
But as UCL Careers has pointed out, the ISE’s survey respondents were most likely from major recruiters rather than small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who constitute a large proportion of graduate destinations for UCL students. Additionally, the study covered the period of 13th–20th March, providing only a very early snapshot of recruiters’ plans.
A recent study by UCL Careers might be a better predictor of UCL students’ prospects specifically: two thirds of respondents were from SMEs, many were London-based, and all had used the myUCLCareers jobs board within the last year.
The findings of this survey suggest that internships are likely to be hit slightly harder than graduate jobs in coming months, but many employers are still undecided. While 44% of employers were able to confirm that their graduate roles would continue, the same held true for only 20% of internship providers. Similar proportions of those hiring interns (15%) and graduates (21%) were planning to pause or delay their recruitment, while 31% of internship providers and 16% of graduate employers are still considering their options.
“It is fair to say that a large number of recruiters are undecided about how they will change things at this relatively early stage but some are offering virtual internships [or] inductions to graduate roles and some have decided to withdraw from the market for this summer,” summed up Karen Barnard, Director of UCL Careers.
Rochelle Rozasty, Internship Programmes and Recruitment Manager at UCL Careers, noted that while the situation may be more challenging for this year’s graduates, many opportunities – including 1200 currently advertised on myUCLCareers – will still be available: “Although finding and securing a role is likely to take longer and students will need to think carefully about their goals and expectations, adjusting them to the current situation, they should still apply for advertised roles and make speculative applications for the sectors they are most interested in.”
A possible precedent for the current recession, the 2008 financial crisis, saw many university students struggle to find employment. Graduates of the global financial crisis in the UK observed both a hit to their earnings and higher chances of working in a low-paid job. The odds of a graduate working in a lower-paid occupation increased by 30% and remained higher even seven years later, according to a study by the Resolution Foundation.
Nonetheless, Raj Sidhu, host of CareersLab and Senior Careers Consultant at UCL Careers, pointed out that, despite recognising uncertainties, both the Office of Budgetary Responsibility and the IMF suggested a potential economic and jobs recovery in the latter part of 2020. He also commented that an expansion in Chinese job listings after March might similarly forecast a betterment of the UK labour market later in the year.
UCL Careers has been actively communicating with employers to stay updated on changes to their recruitment practices, emphasised the Business Development Manager, Weronika Benning. As UCL Careers’ survey highlights, most employers are moving quickly towards delivering their opportunities online. Many recruiters have been in contact about how they might continue to engage with students as UCL Careers works on providing support for students and adapting its events for virtual delivery.
This week, UCL Careers published a blog and a video providing careers advice for students during the pandemic, and will continue to keep students updated in coming weeks. They underlined the importance of becoming comfortable with online recruitment processes (such as video interviews), highlighting traits that will have become even more valuable to employers at this time (including communication, interpersonal skills, and the ability to work independently), and an open mind when it comes to searching for opportunities.
Rozasty concluded: “If a student doesn’t manage to get a role straight away and/or they want to improve their attractiveness to employers, they can seek to undertake alternative activities (virtual work experience, online networking, online courses, volunteering, personal projects such as blog writing or researching/analysing areas of interest).”
“These activities can help to enhance their CV and improve upon skills gaps. At the very least they will help students to demonstrate their commitment to make the best of the situation and could even stand them in good stead for the inevitable longer-term changes that might occur from working more online.”