State of the Market

[Protagoras]

I was reading the horror stories of recent Oxford grads trying to get jobs this morning. My son has just finished his first year of law at Uni. I am not expecting him to get a job after it TBH .... the job market for youngsters is a monumental disaster and will only get worse. My wife and I are cutting back on everything .... including holidays... in preparation for us being able to leave a decent amount of money for him. At this point I am so glad we only have one child to worry about. Things are already bad ... AI will be the killer blow. TBH I would question whether it's even worth going Uni any more .... may be better off just trying to get a manual job.

I reckon that over 80% of people I know have degrees or above and all think that for youngsters the good options are to learn a trade or to emigrate. No one seems to be advising their offspring to follow the path they took.

I don't personally believe that AI is the threat it's being made out to be, but bosses seem to be convinced that it can reduce staff requirements (but not, of course the boss's job!).

There is evidence that faced with IHT changes, people are accessing pensions to pass funds to younger family members; hence the government looking at lifetime tax-exempt gift allowance.

Cutting back is also a theme for people whose income is inflation exposed - that's most of us. Figures tell us growth is slowing. Government's solution seems to be to want more tax. Sentiment seems to be that 'it will get worse' so people defer spending.

I sense no optimism among people. Only cutting back, loss of purchasing power, high-priced essentials, uncertainty and zero respect for a government that must be one of the most out of touch in my lifetime. Add the contractor woes of being forced to work on 'temp' terms via a Brolly, for those lucky enough to find work.
It's all pretty dispiriting.

[mogga71]

Agree mogga71 the future is very unsettling for youngsters....jobs are just not there any longer as lot of us know it is very difficult to secure a role for young or old...I'm in latter category and it is slim pickings ....just nothing....I think IT contract market as we knew it is over and it is time to do something else....whatever that is ?!?!

AI, outsourcing/offshoring to India which is so wide spread and the visas fiasco has hammered so many sectors especially IT....

I don't think uni is worth it now to come out with student debt and the dire job prospects - better to get a manual job/trade etc

On top of that impossible to buy and get on the housing ladder on one salary that used to be doable but not now.

I too am of the older generation but am lucky that I am still one of the only contractors left based in my IB in London. 99% of the contractors are now based in India. Once this gig is over I am out ... just as well as chances of me getting another contracting job are zero and the work now is horrible compared to 10 years ago anyway.

I hate this government with a passion ... like most ... as they are basically making getting a job for youngsters impossible and also trying to prevent the same kids from inheriting much from their parents ... as lets face facts ... the kids are going to need every penny. However, I am firmly of the belief that it is now literally impossible for any party to turn things around.

[Cookielove]

That pretty much sums up how I feel Protagoras I've never known it to be so bad on so many fronts and I am mid/late 50s....this is the worst government in my lifetime they are abysmal and that doesn't even touch the sides of how out of touch they are....I really hope something happens and they cannot do a full term or we will have nothing left the country is in a sad desperate state....

I saw Robert Jenrick on the news he had been over to Calais he said the French ain't helping us they are taking the p and aiding those jumping on the boats....he was threatened when he was filming by those wanting to travel....Greece are not taking anymore and neither do other countries so just end it...but we roll out the red carpet and offer too many freebies to unknowns..utter madness !

Don't want to get side tracked by that but it is a mess....just another nail in the coffin and downward slide...

Youngsters should get a trade plumber, sparky that sort of thing ....or look to emigrate...sad but true.

Brolly is the only way and it is rubbish, or try and get a perm role and that is hard after decades of contracting...who could have foreseen it would be this bad on so many fronts...

[Protagoras]

However, I am firmly of the belief that it is now literally impossible for any party to turn things around.

That's exactly the problem, there is a belief that we're like the Roman Empire.

It will take years to re-build the country, but we need a party prepared to make a start. I suggest that will require challenging decisions, but we're need to re-build in almost a post-war manner which in turn would create a lot of jobs. With suitable policies in place, including investment in training, these should be jobs for onshore people. It would be necessary to divert a huge amount of government spending to this and the benefits would not appear in the lifetime of the parliament doing it.

We probably need a re-run of the late 1940s nationalisation policies to enable strategically organised provision of water, sewerage, electricity and gas supply to make these essential services available at competitive cost. This would not please the 'net zero' supporters since would inevitably mean pushing out aspirational dates.

[sadkingbilly]

I really love the positive attitude on here, it would make anyone proud to be English!

[avonleigh]

Agent refused to put me forward for a contract yesterday as I don't have a degree. Couldn't believe it. Been doing this role for 28 years.

[coolhandluke]

I was reading the horror stories of recent Oxford grads trying to get jobs this morning. My son has just finished his first year of law at Uni. I am not expecting him to get a job after it TBH .... the job market for youngsters is a monumental disaster and will only get worse. My wife and I are cutting back on everything .... including holidays... in preparation for us being able to leave a decent amount of money for him. At this point I am so glad we only have one child to worry about. Things are already bad ... AI will be the killer blow. TBH I would question whether it's even worth going Uni any more .... may be better off just trying to get a manual job.

If your son graduates from either Oxford or Cambridge with a law degree he will have no trouble getting a job. If it's a law degree from Derby Uni (where I went) then he has just wasted 90k

[SchumiStars]

Son got his a-level results this morning, all good and has got into Nottingham Uni to study Computer Science. Incredibly proud of him. Just hope the job market is much better in 3 years time.

I know of a recent grad, computer science, first class. He has been out of work since graduating 2 years ago.

There are no grad schemes for companies such as Prudential, Aviva, HSBC, Barclays etc etc.

So now, this recent grad is now old for any grad schemes and will either have to find another job in something he doesn't want to do or somehow get hired as an experienced developer, which he's not.

[avonleigh]

I know of a recent grad, computer science, first class. He has been out of work since graduating 2 years ago.

There are no grad schemes for companies such as Prudential, Aviva, HSBC, Barclays etc etc.

So now, this recent grad is now old for any grad schemes and will either have to find another job in something he doesn't want to do or somehow get hired as an experienced developer, which he's not.

Yes this is the worry. But what can you do? It's something we wants to do. I can't push him into something he doesn't want to do. I am just hoping things improve by then. Once he has graduated I will be advising him to leave UK though. Only reason I am still here is cos I am 55 and have a 10 year old in school. So not feasible for me.

[uk contractor]

I know of a recent grad, computer science, first class. He has been out of work since graduating 2 years ago.

There are no grad schemes for companies such as Prudential, Aviva, HSBC, Barclays etc etc.

So now, this recent grad is now old for any grad schemes and will either have to find another job in something he doesn't want to do or somehow get hired as an experienced developer, which he's not.

All those companies you mention are on the indian outsourcing train they all have 1st class tickets in avoiding employing anyone outside of the outsourcer resource pool (I avoided using the word talent pool for obvious reasons as it does not take much talent to sit in a packed room using google search to find your coding samples!).

It is what it is the government need to step in put in blanket restrictions on this underhand practice of allowing jobs to be stolen onshore by people who then jump onto another visa scheme in the outsourcing pyramid scam scheme (seems to be the same 1-2 giant outsourcers controlling the entire industry now 1 can even afford to sponsor the Ferrari F1 team car is how much money they are making!).