Graduates find work closer to home
A study into graduate migration patterns has found out that two-thirds of employed graduates find their first job closer to home.
The study conducted by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU) has revealed that the more than two-thirds of graduates who find work closer to home. The study looked into migration patterns of graduates and where they find work of graduates who graduated in 2012/2013.
The study, entitled Loyals, Stayers, Returners and Incomers: Graduate Migration Patterns, split employed graduates into several subgroups to see if trends would emerge. The most prominent group which made of 45.9% of graduates were "Regional Loyals", these were graduates who had studied close to home and then gone on to find work in the same region. These types of graduates could mostly be found in the North West, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the North East.
This was followed by the second largest subgroup of graduates, defined as "regional stayers" which made of 24.7% of employed graduates. These were graduates who had studied away from home but found work closer to home. These were mainly found in the West Midlands, East and South East.
For those that had moved away and not returned home to find work, "Regional Stayers" and "Regional Incomers". Regional stayers were mainly working in Health and Media positions and made of up 11.5%. While incomers were moving to places they'd neither lived nor studied before and made up 18% of employed graduates.
Speaking about the results of the study, Charlie Ball, Head of Higher Education Intelligence at HECSU, told the THE Magazine this information could be useful for fixing the problem of graduate employment. Ball said 'It highlights two clear approaches for universities and local authorities looking to secure graduate talent – targeting graduates originally domiciled in their region, and those who went to university there.'
Ball added 'A skilled and educated workforce is a boon to any region looking for economic growth and the regional agenda for graduate employment is becoming increasingly important.'
By James Howell
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