Futuretrack » Futuretrack News (tag [Employment])

The impact of the Covid-19 restrictions and socio-economic effects of the pandemic on the careers of the Futuretrack cohort

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 21:03:00 GMT

The Futuretrack Stage 5 research was conducted in summer and autumn 2019, but as the research team analysed the data collected and began to write the Stage 5 report, employment and social life more broadly were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This presented unprecedented challenges to employers and employees as the cohort of graduates who had entered the labour market in the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis, around ten years after graduation, mainly moved beyond early careers to settled professional employment or self-employment and reached the family-building stage of their lives - over a quarter having already become parents. As we analysed the responses and particularly, the interview accounts given by those we had spoken to, we were aware that respondents ranged from those likely to be at the front line of essential services in healthcare and other areas, to those who had recently become self-employed or who were in precarious employment, or working in sectors where the restrictions were already leading employers to make staff redundant and rationalise their activities in a way likely to increase the vulnerability of employees. it seemed essential to go back to respondents to investigate the impact of these restrictions and economic trends, and allow them to update their accounts of their career development and perceptions of the options available to them.

Precarious pathways into employment? What was the impact of internships and work experience?

Wed, 22 Oct 2014 12:40:12 GMT

In an increasingly competitive youth labour market, young people's early labour market experience has become progressively more protracted, unstable and fragmented. Between education and employment, unwaged work, temporary work and involuntary part-time work have become a more common for job-seekers, whatever their qualifications. As employers demand evidence of 'employability skills', work placements and internships have become an integral part of secondary and higher education and of early labour market experience.

In Futuretrack, we identified the increasing importance of unpaid work, temporary work, work experience placements during courses and after graduation, in students' and graduates' pursuit of career opportunities and the 'employability skills' that graduate employers seek when recruiting. In this major new ESRC-funded project, we are following up a sample of Futuretrack graduates who had experience of these forms of unpaid work and 'precarious employment', also tracking the experiences of young people who did not enter HE, and investigating the perspectives of employers, in an intensive study of employement opportunities in the Midlands in current and recent years. Members of the research team are also comparing young people's transitions from education to employment during previous periods of recession and comapring these, and the policies and practices that facilitated or obstructed then in their job-seeking, with those of young people today. See www.warwick.ac.uk/paths2work for more information.

Futuretrack Stage 4 research report

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:20:41 GMT

Futuretrack Stage 4: transitions into employment, further study and other outcomes (2012)

The Stage 4 research report examines graduates' experiences of the labour market and further study five and a half years after they first applied to higher education.

Futuretrack Survey

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:57:27 GMT

Many thanks to everyone who has completed the survey and passed on our message. We’ve had a great response, are now checking out the eligibility of respondents so that we have a final usable dataset from which we can randomly select the prize draw winners. These will be announced this week.

The Futuretrack Survey is now CLOSED

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:54:35 GMT

Many thanks to everyone who has completed the survey and passed on our message. We’ve had a great response rate and are looking forward to analysing the data.

Watch this space for more news about the Futuretrack project.

Last week of Futuretrack survey – have you done it?

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:31:20 GMT

Survey closes Friday 2nd March

We are now in the last week of the survey, so if you haven’t yet taken part, we invite you to do so NOW, before it is too late! You could win one of our cash prizes, but more importantly, you will be contributing to building a full picture of the labour market and a deeper understanding of the relationship between higher education and employment.

We’ve had an impressive response rate so far, but we want to be as representative as possible. Please pass this message on to anyone you know who is eligible to take the survey – remember, it is open to all who applied to full-time higher education through UCAS in the academic year 2005/06.

Remember, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for up-to-date news and discussions about the issues that matter to you.

Click here to complete the survey

Uncovering the student experience - Podcast

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:20:01 GMT

In this third instalment of our podcast series Professor Kate Purcell and two students discuss their HE experience - the highs and the lows.

How employable are today's graduates?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:40:06 GMT

Second in our series of podcasts - Leaders of the Futuretrack project, Professors Kate Purcell and Peter Elias, discuss 'employability' and the skills graduates need in today's job market.

Futuretrack and UCL's Malcolm Grant: first or fail?

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:04:13 GMT

Aaron Porter, the former president of the National Union of Students, writes about Futuretrack in the guardian.

A first for the timing of the latest graduate destinations survey, but a fail for the president and provost – although does he deserve one?

The Value of a Degree - Podcast

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:24 GMT

What is a degree worth?

Professors Kate Purcell and Peter Elias have been conducting research on the graduate labour market for more than twenty years. The Futuretrack survey will reveal the latest evidence on this topic, but in this podcast, they talk about the issues more broadly.