The Changing Graduate Labour Market

This chapter demonstrates that the graduate labour market has fundamentally changed in recent decades. By using secondary statistical data as well as reviewing existing empirical studies, the chapter illustrates some key changes shaping the British graduate labour market. The chapter first covers the growth of so-called high-skilled jobs. Then it looks at the evidence for the demand for skilled workers. It examines where graduates work and it covers trends in graduate wages. The chapter argues that the growth of skilled occupations may have partly been induced by the growing number of graduates in the labour force, yet it is unclear how the influx of graduates relates to the demand for their skills.