Movers and Stayers

Peter Elias, University of Warwick Kate Purcell and Nick Wilton,

University of the West of England

Second Graduate Labour Market Forum 15th December 2003,

Westminster, London

• What are the regional effects of graduate migration?

• How significant is region for graduate career opportunities?

• What are the occupational costs and benefits of studying at home and moving away, and of regional migration, for graduates?

Structure of the presentation

How do we record mobility?

In 7 years on survey we ask three questions about location:

– Where did you live immediately before studying for your 1995 course?

– Where were you first employed after graduating in 1995?– Where are you currently employed?

We also know where they studied

How was our sample of 1995 graduates distributed across the UK

before they went to university?

England 50,700 77%

Wales 3,200 5%

Scotland 7,100 11%

N. Ireland 4,900 7%

How do they move?

Study in same country (1991-95)

First job in same country (1995)

Current job in same country

Plus, 1995 grads from other countries

England 92% 93% 90% +10%

Wales 50% 55% 35% +27%

Scotland 93% 70% 65% +10%

N. Ireland 88% 79% 78% +3%

Does HE lead to a ‘brain drain’

• For Wales, Scotland and N Ireland this does appear to be the case (but results for Wales based on small sample)

• 7 years on, Scotland has lost one third of those who lived in Scotland before entering higher education – and the gain in qualified ‘immigrants’ does not offset this loss

Quality of current job* by region and gender

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

NI

Scotland

Wales

SW

Midlands

North

Ireland

Elsewhere

SE

*Average score on scale of 1-6, where higher = better

Females

Males

Working hours of full-time employees by region

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

Elsewhere Ireland Scotland Midlands SE North NI SW Wales

Males

Females

Time spent travelling to work by region and gender

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90 Males

Females

‘London negative’

Female history graduate from ‘old’ university, Events Officer for Voluntary sector foundation, £24-26K

Interviewer: “In the last three months have you thought about changing your job?”

Respondent: “Well, this is going to come as really contradictory, but yes. Not

because of the job… I don’t know whether you’ve lived in London or you have friends in London but it’s a pretty unpleasant place to live most of the time. It can be really exhausting and I’ve been here for six years and I think I’m ready to leave. So, it’s a real shame, because I’ve found a great job, but I can’t see myself staying in London for anything more than a year… Obviously, you’re going to call me in about a years and I’ll start going, ‘well I’ve changed my mind about that…’ - But I think I’m really ready to leave London but I haven’t thought about what the career alternatives would be.

‘London Positive’

Female Interdisciplinary graduate from 1992 university, working as Programme Manager in New Media/ICT company, earning £50-60K

• “The whole reason that I came to London to get a job and live that horrible life was primarily so I could get enough money so I didn’t have to spend the rest of my life slaving away in some hideous job for a mortgage. And I’ve kind of done that because I bought a property and sold that so I’ve got that money stashed away ready”.

Work-life balance…

Humanities graduate, moved from London, now working in Heritage Management in Midlands earning £21-25K

the years that I spent at [a Communications company in central London] were fabulous years but we did work, if we had to, we worked really long hours and something’s got to give somewhere. Also, even though I was living in Zone , it was still an hour for me to get into work because the public transport system is screwed. It’s an hour to get six miles. If I’d have had more nous then I should have just … cycled in. An hour to get into work, I’m there at nine, I don’t finish.. my contract hours finish at six, but that can go substantially later if we’ve got a job on and it’s then an hour for me to get home. So, what day have I had that hasn’t been totally focused around work? It’s not even that I want lots of leisure time to do lots of nice things, it’s the fact that you don’t have time to do the washing, bog standard things that you have to do. So, yes, I think those…. job satisfaction, hours, work-life balance, interest… that sort of thing is definitely affecting. It was affecting the fact that I didn’t want to do that job I was in anymore and that I wanted to do something different and this is the thing that I want to do. So, yes, I’d say that they have definitely affected my decisions.

‘The Life cycle stage effect’ - changing values…

Female Business Studies graduate, Partner in PR SME, earning £33-36K

• “I moved just outside London and I wanted a job that was just outside London so that I didn’t have the nightmare of having to get on a hot, sweaty tube every day. I am glad I made that decision on a day like this. That was one factor, another is that I was looking for somewhere that would offer flexibility in terms of a decent work/life balance, whereas a lot of companies in central London wouldn’t have given me that so much, they would have wanted blood basically. Also, I am getting married in a few weeks and my long term plan is to start a family, so I was looking for an organisation where I wouldn’t feel that that was a bad thing…”

Satisfaction with current job* by region and gender

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Wales

Scotland

SE

North

Midlands

SW

Elsewhere

NI

Ireland

*Average score on scale of 1-7, where higher = more satisfied

Females

Males

Mobility, HE & Destination in 2002/3

Stay Local

Local University

Away University

Ho

me

Back Home

Local Early Mover Homers

c. 1992 2002/3

Late Mover

Back Home

Move

1995

Move

Stay local

Back Home

Move Move

Average annual income by mobility (full-time employment only)

distinguishing SE effect

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

SEearly

mover

SE latemover

SEhomer

SElocal

Otherearly

mover

Otherlate

mover

Otherlocal

Otherhomer

£s

Males

Females

Job quality* by mobility

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

early movers late movers homer locals

* Average score on scale of 1-6, where higher = better

Hours of work by mobility*

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

late movers early movers locals homer* Average hours (those in full time employment only)

Males

Females

Minutes spent travelling to work per day by mobility*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

locals homer early movers late movers

* Those in full-time employment only

Males

Females

Satisfaction with career to date by mobility

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

locals

homer

early movers

late movers

Very satisfied Reasonably satisfied Not very satisfied Dissatisfied

Subjective comments..

‘The thing I value most about my undergraduate experience [was] the experience of living and studying away from home..because it makes you more independent –and I don’t think the independence would have come. University life showed me what a sheltered life I’d been leading..’(Male, 1960s university, studied Economics)

‘The best thing was meeting a wider range of people,being introduced to things I never would have encountered otherwise…’(Female, ‘old university’, studied Humanities)

Implications

• There is a significant drift of graduates away from Scotland, Wales and N Ireland towards the SE and London

• Graduates who move tend to earn more than those who stayed local or returned

• Strong regional variations in journey to work times and some evidence of variations in job satisfaction – need further investigation

• Widespread subjective perception that ‘going away’ added to skills and initiative.