Bleak outlook for the young.

That’s unfortunate but it isn’t the future for all Oxbridge graduates, or graduates from any good Universities.
But it is the case that there are fewer jobs and will be chased by many for the fewer good places.
It’s also true that there are fewer more lowly jobs around.Presumably because of automation, AI , employers trying to manage with fewer staff and the fact that the population is at an all time high.

I am with you watermeadow. My grandson left sixth form college two years ago with good grades. Apart from a brief temporary seasonal job he has had nothing despite applying for at least ten “vacancies” a week. He either gets rejected or his application is not even acknowledged. It is soul destroying and these are for basic supermarket/ warehouse jobs. He has long given up any hope of apprenticeships. How are these young people supposed to make their way in the world? There is no hope for them of owning their own homes or even renting. I feel so sad for the young and how all this can lead to depression and mental health issues.

I remember that saying many years ago when my children were teens and twenties:
Q What do you ask an Oxbridge graduate?
A Can I have a Big Mac and French fries please?

Somehow all the youngsters I knew from that time, now 40 and 50 year olds, have become successful with good careers.
I did have to pay for extra tutoring for mine even then, as some of the teaching was less than adequate, particularly in Maths, but it was worth it.
It is worrying now if there are not enough good science teachers in schools.

As Oreo points out, AI will replace many jobs in future too.

Some jobs can never be replaced by AI. While studying English literature is interesting it's not a guarantee of an actual job. Do young people need more detailed counselling on what exactly they should study that might lead to a real job?

My grandson studied Business, Finance and IT. Still no job and he won’t claim benefits because he believes he hasn’t earned any.

As regards your grandson being taught A Level Physics by an inadequate teacher, where are these additional teachers that were promised with the 20% VAT increase on private school fees? I don't mean those new ones who are merely plugging holes where teachers are leaving the profession faster than they are being replaced. I mean the extra highly qualified Maths and Science teachers that Starmer and Reeves spoke about? Hmm.

I know, our youngest grandchildren are 16 and 17 and would love a part time job to have their own money which would ease the financial burden on their parents. Their sister is 10 years older and was able to get a part time job at 16, she was able to get a transfer to work in the same store while she was at university, when she graduated she worked for a while in retail for the same store but is now happily settled in an admin job and has had two promotions. Both the younger ones plan to go to university after A Levels but part if me wants them to get a trade or a good apprenticeship and avoid the huge debt they will incur.

For at least three decades there has been an obsession with academic achievement which results in too many people thinking that GCSE grades and then university is the only way to succeed in life. The idea is that, unless young people can show a prospective employer a degree certificate, they stand no chance of getting a job. This, combined with an aversion to the idea of starting at the bottom and working their way up, has resulted in a situation where young people must expect to start their working lives heavily in debt. It needn't be that way (and it didn't used to be) but it's going to take a long time before people realise that we're creating too many over-qualified people chasing too few jobs. (And the new god, AI, is only going to make that situation worse.)
Also (don't shoot the messenger), due to turning universities into businesses which operate largely on the bums-on-seats principle, too many youngsters are being shoehorned into universities who really shouldn't be there. I taught more than a few of those during my working life and felt terribly sorry for them. In each new intake there were always several who simply couldn't string a coherent sentence together, verbally or on paper. Sadly, their parents thought uni was a magic door which would automatically swing open to let their kids into a jobs market falling over itself to give them highly-paid work. It's a sad situation but general principles, attitudes and ideals have to change or it will just go on.

Aveline

Some jobs can never be replaced by AI. While studying English literature is interesting it's not a guarantee of an actual job. Do young people need more detailed counselling on what exactly they should study that might lead to a real job?

It's a question we need to look at closely going forward. Though we could also say that no education is ever wasted, whatever the subject.

Young people need better careers advice.
It's no good trying to push them in a direction which would be totally unsuitable, of course, but they should be offered options suited to their strengths which would lead to the kind of jobs needed in the future.

They should also be prepared to be flexible as they might well need to retrain and change career paths in the future.

My 24 year old GD with a good honours degree and a master’s is waitressing and has no clear path into a professional life. She is adaptable and will I am sure find a way forward, but she is only one of many and as an only child doesn’t have much debt because we spent her inheritance up front as it were. I wonder for the social order if we have such a disenfranchised generation who are not allowed to contribute to society.

It's such a shame.
I personally wish there was more little part time jobs for theses youngsters. It helps so much in confidence and structure. Employers are reluctant to take them on? They don't pay NI or Tax if they earn less than £96 per week and I doubt they will.
I was involved in the Education level in my career, taking on Apprentice 's up to training posts for Masters in my profession, you could tell the difference with those that have had past working experience it definitely gave them a foot in the door.
These little jobs help employers to see you are a worker post degree /A levels.

My son had a little part time job in Asda's, they switched him to a local one near his University term time and back again when he was home. It was good for his self esteem, it was even brought up on the job he eventually got as they knew he was a good worker. Plus he had his own money, and didn't over blow his Student loan.

I agree CarrotTop more youngsters are needed in the trades too where there is an ageing workforce, not so much kudos plumbing a toilet I suppose, but AI can’t do it and there’s good money to be earned.
Our granddaughter has deferred her unconditional university place (police, forensics) to work and travel for a year, she’s had a supermarket job for the last month. I wouldn’t be surprised if she never goes to university.

I looked it up.

Long-Term Trends
Stable Rates:
Official Department for Education data shows that the working-age graduate employment rate was 87.6% in 2024, nearly identical to the peak of 87.7% recorded in 2018.

Resilience:
Graduate employment rates consistently stay well above non-graduate employment rates, weathering economic shocks like the pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living pressures.

It seems bleak when our family members are in the thick of applying for the jobs they want, and struggling with demoralisation and disappointment, and times are hard currently, but it’s not in reality much different to the way it’s been for years.

My granddaughter has an apprenticeship within Tesco,finishes next April with unfortunately no guarantee of further employment with them which is a shame but she's learning all departments so hopefully will find something.
My brother left school early 80's with excellent A level results and was turned down for so many jobs as he had no experience,he went into nursing,not as easy to do that now either

My grandson is lucky because he landed a job after a work experience placement by his university. He works very,very hard . None of his friends from uni have got jobs yet. This is a year since graduating in science/commerce. Huge costs for a double degree. The ones who seem to have done the best are the medical graduates in the family but, boy, do they work long hours. One grandson in law is a carpenter and he does well, always has work. My advice these days is to be an electrician or a plumber. Much better pay, never out of work!

As I said nanna8

Things were every bit as bad as this, in fact far worse in the 1980s. DD, aged 15 was utterly nihilistic about life, was, initially not even prepared to do GCSEs, let alone stay at school after the minimum leaving age - and she was at grammar school.

What of that 80s generation now? Are they all unemplyed and homeless, of course they aren't. Theys are spread across the population in the way you would expect, everything from head teachers to teaching assistants, government ministers to working as hospital porters.

The same will happen with this generation of children, things will be difficult but things will improveand when their grandchildren are railing against how dreadful the economy is in 2055 this current wiltell them about how thinss were difficult for them, but all worked out OK in the end.

Even in the 1960s, not every new graduate walked straight into a job. Friends of mine did waiting and bar work while waiting to get onto the career ladder

My two grandsons; one is an electrician, and the other on his way to being a plumber.

My GC and their partners all have ended up in technical careers, the 4 that did complete a graduate degree, acquired a student loan and had to start from scratch, their degrees were Fashion, Architect, Art and History. No help at all in the work they are doing.

Sad for them.

I don't envy the youngsters these days.

Thankfully my youngest son (late 30's) and all his large group of schoolmates and friends have all worked their way up to good jobs. None of them have been jobless since leaving school at 16, and none of them saddled themselves with debt to go to uni. Most own their own homes.

I agree good plumbers/carpenters/electricians will always have work.

We do need to stop the rules about youngsters being able to work part time, so many 14/15 year olds try to get something to earn their own money but are stopped by regulations, let them earn their own money. It teaches them a good life lesson.

I agree. Part working and summer jobs are great learning experiences for life.
I was wondering about the perceived need for youngsters to 'go travelling'. It sets them back a year in the competition for jobs. When I was young we wanted to get good proper jobs asap and didn't want to miss the employment boat. We're now doing our travelling as pensioners..

MartavTaurus, science graduates don't necessarily want to teach, however much we would like them to.
As you pointed out, many teachers leave the profession within a few years of starting
Perhaps we need to look at what we can do to keep teachers.

100% Chocolatelovinggran! Ms Reeves was rather dim not to see that. Her additional revenue from the 20% VAT fee increase might have been better spent awarding teachers in high-demand subjects like physics and chemistry with a generous bonus every 2 or 3 years to retain them. And looking at their additional workload pressures over say a Geography or History teacher.