How many graduates go into temping?
The table below shows the contractual status of UK-domiciled first degree graduates from the 2007 cohort who were in employment in the UK six months after graduation. The figures represent graduates who answered the question, there were 13.8 % who did not respond. The figures are from the 2006/07 Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
Contractual status of UK-domiciled first degree graduates from the 2007 cohort who were in employment in the UK six months after graduation
| Type of employment | % of graduates |
|---|---|
| Permanent or open-end contract | 65.1 |
| Fixed-term contract: 12 months or longer | 10.6 |
| Fixed-term contract: shorter than 12 months | 7.8 |
| Self-employed/freelance | 3.7 |
| Temporarily, through an agency | 5.9 |
| Temporarily, other than through an agency | 4.9 |
| Other | 2.0 |
| Total | 100 |
Source: 2006/07 DLHE, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Please note that the survey only gives the destinations of graduates six months after graduation, and it does not tell you how they progress later on.
More insight into temporary employment is revealed in a recent report Class Of '99:
In the past, most temporary employment undertaken by new graduates was primarily for 'stop-gap' earnings whilst the search for 'appropriate' career-related employment could be begun. However, for several of the interview respondents, it appeared that, whether through an agency or direct employment by an organisation, it had been an important route into both careers and specific organisations. This might reflect change in attitudes towards the boundaries between temporary and permanent employment, indicative of wider social change and the increasing conceptualisation of flexibility as a positive factor in all aspects of life.
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