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Students think Brexit could harm career prospects

A recent survey has shown that prospective graduates are worried about Brexit. Of the 151 graduates surveyed, over a third (38 percent) were concerned that Brexit will negatively affect their employment prospects. Only 15 percent believe that the UK exiting the EU would have a positive effect on their careers, with the remainder being undecided or choosing ‘no impact’.
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A recent survey has shown that prospective graduates are worried about Brexit. Of the 151 graduates surveyed, over a third (38 percent) were concerned that Brexit will negatively affect their employment prospects. Only 15 percent believe that the UK exiting the EU would have a positive effect on their careers, with the remainder being undecided or choosing ‘no impact’. Contributor Helen Hay, Head of HR – Shakespeare Martineau.

The results also showed that over half of the students surveyed (59 percent) believed that Brexit will damage the UK’s attractiveness as a place for global investment. Students think that it is better to be part of a large trading block such as the European Union. Others state that Brexit will slowly decrease stability.

However, the future ramifications of Brexit were unclear to many with 37 percent unsure about how it will affect their future job search. Students believe that the influence of Brexit is still unclear at this time and its final impact depends on how successfully future deals and negotiations are carried out. Students who think that Brexit has the potential to have a positive impact on employment prospects (15 percent), also believe that there could be an increased number of opportunities internationally.

An exit from the European Union leaves Britain in control of all its legislation but also results in having to create separate trade arrangements with the EU. Even though graduate perspectives were generally pessimistic, two thirds (66 percent) of students surveyed still believe that the UK is strong enough to self-govern its legislation and be independent.

Commenting on the research findings, Helen Hay, head of HR at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “This cohort of students will be one of the first to be graduating just ahead of the UK’s exit from the European Union and with severe talent shortages facing many sectors in the UK, their skills and expertise will be highly valuable.

“We will only know to what extent Brexit will affect the UK as a whole when the negotiation process is complete or at least much further down the line. Until then we can only predict what we think is the most likely scenario.

“Graduating from university is always a daunting prospect for students and anyone entering the final year of their degree will inevitably be apprehensive about how Brexit will influence their future career prospects. Despite a degree of pessimism shown by the results, it’s encouraging that the majority think that the UK is strong enough to go at it alone.”

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