The real reason today’s university graduates are struggling to find work

WE ALWAYS hear employers complaining millennials are “lazy” and “entitled”, but one expert says it’s rubbish.

WHEN IT comes to millennials entering the workplace, we’ve heard the stereotypes over and over again.

They’re lazy. They’re unmotivated. They’re glued to their smartphones. They’re entitled and expect to come in as CEOs, rather than work their way up from low-paid entry-level positions the way their parents did.

But an expert who has spent almost three decades in recruitment services has sharply rebuked the stereotype, saying it’s frankly “bullsh*t”.

THE REAL REASON MILLENNIALS CAN’T FIND WORK

A survey of more than 14,000 Australian university graduates published earlier this week suggested young people were shooting themselves in the feet.

The GradAustralia survey said millennials are just too picky when it comes to their first job, with more than half seeking a company with a reputable image and a lack of willingness to make personal sacrifices for their careers.

But Steve Shepherd, CEO of career guidance firm TwoPointZero, says it’s more complicated than that.

When asked if the stereotype that young people were lazy and entitled was true, he said it was “bulls**t”.

He told news.com.au young people face significant employment challenges nowadays that have nothing to do with laziness or entitlement.

Rather — based on his own experience helping struggling millennials find jobs — he said digital disruption, increased competition, false understandings from the education system and parental pressure play significant roles here.

“If we look at jobs that were available in the 1980s and compare them to now, it’s significantly different,” he told news.com.au. “Entry level positions have now gone — they’ve either been replaced by technology or sent offshore.”

He referred to the banking sector as an example, noting a number of his clients are rejected from the Big Four banks.

“People were processing bank cheques in the 80s — it was manual data entry, and they’d start at the bottom and work their way up.

“Technology has now replaced those roles, and others have been moved offshore to cheaper labour markets.”

Entry-level positions that existed in banks 30 years ago have now been replaced by technology. Where does this leave university graduates who want a job at a bank?

Shepherd also said the screening process for hiring prospective employees has become more stringent at the expense of the new generation, thanks to technology.

“In the old days, you’d phone up, apply on the phone, and even if you weren’t quite a match, they might go, ‘Well, there’s something about this person, I’ll give them a chance.’

“Now you can have a Bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience, but if someone doesn’t tick all of the boxes XYZ, you reject them. There’s more people graduating and more competition.”

Today it takes young people 4.7 years on average after leaving fulltime education to enter fulltime work. 30 years ago, it only took an average of one year.

While university graduates will on average earn significantly more than people who finish their education at year 12, those without assistance will bear the financial burden for a long time.

According to the Foundation for Young Australians, a three-year bachelor’s degree costs AU$26,298 — this is almost three times what it cost in 1991, adjusted for inflation.

Despite this cost, Shepherd argues universities aren’t adequately preparing young people for the workforce.

“I don’t want to sound too critical of universities, but we’ve got 10 to 15,000 final year students and limited resources to provide career support for them,” he said.

He rejected the “linear” approach to education, saying it’s not as simple as picking a lone career path in high school, following it through university, and coming out with a job.

He also criticised tertiary education systems and “career fairs” for giving people “false understandings”, saying big brands showcase a tiny percentage of successful graduates who land a job at Google or another major corporation, creating “clouded views” of what interning and employment look like for the majority.

Shepherd said universities are giving people “false understandings” of the reality of the job market.

Based on his experience working with millennials, Shepherd said it’s clear parenting plays a role here, criticising the impact of parental pressure on millennials’ career decisions.

“Parents apply their own desires for their children, and often children end up studying things they hate,” he said. “They’ll say ‘Get a law degree, you’ll be right in the market’, when we know there’s an oversubscription. It’s nice-sounding to say, and they can tell all their friends their child has a law degree, but is that child really going to get a job in this field? We need to create a broader awareness of the employment market.”

He said these same parents need to put place pressure on universities to adequately prepare students for the workforce, rather than just educate them.

A 2016 study by the National Institute of Labour Studies found the proportion of graduates in relevant fulltime work has plummeted.

In 2008, 56.4 per cent of university graduates had secured full time work in the four months since completing their studies. In 2014, that number had dropped to 41.7 per cent.

But the most alarming drop was for new graduates aged 20 to 25.

In 2014, only 39.4 per cent of 20- to 25-year-old graduates had secured relevant fulltime work, leaving almost two thirds (60.6 per cent) languishing in casual or part-time work.

Statistically, most of these graduates won’t be quite so cheery when they’re trying to find a job.

Shepherd says the solution isn’t simple, but that all sides need to play a part.

“Really, I think everybody can play a role in this,” he said. “The government can put more pressure on the education system, and provide the system with more funding to deliver that.

“Likewise, employers need to be more active in hiring young people. Baby Boomers are retiring — employers need to adapt, and take risks on millennials.

“But if parents start saying: ‘I’m not going to let my child study at your university unless you can actually show them something different’, they’ll start to make movements somewhere.”

Rather than following a traditional, “linear” approach, he said young people ultimately need to be encouraged to broaden their horizons, and apply their skills to different fields.

They may end up surprising themselves.

Originally published as The real reason today’s university graduates are struggling to find work