PRECSTUDE:

The Student Labour Market

Nick Clark, Working Lives Research Institute

Tertiary

students ,

2010

Tertiary

students ,

2010

Tertiary

students ,

2010

437

1879

2245

1980

2149

2479

113

Proportion of students

working

Country % students working (year) Comments

Cz 4% (2001 census)

70% plus (Eurostudent)

15 hours /week (Eurostudent)

Fr 16.5%-85% (2005) Estimates, various sources

75%+ (2007)

It 39%, up to 75%

20% (Eurostudent 2009)

Regional variation

Lv 45% during term, 66% during holidays

(2009)

Eurostudent

Pl 40.8% (2011)

52% (2009)

Av. 19 hours per week for

undergrad, 25 for MA (Eurostat

2011)

Sp 53% (2008-11) – Eurostudent Including term time and vacation

work

25% (2009) – INE

UK 43.2% (2011)

53.8% (2009)

42-78% , depending on university (2005)

LFS, Eurostudent, CHERI

Significance

Reasonable to estimate that 45% of tertiary students in

Europe engage in paid work during their studies. That

would equate to 8.93 million in 2010.

Also in 2010 there were 3.53 million FTE temporary

agency workers in the EEA (EuroCIETT).

Allowing for largely part-time nature of student work,

student workforce is at least equivalent of the temporary

agency workforce

(to some extent is included in that workforce)

Work/study balance

Work patterns:

Term-time, regular

Term time, casual/occasional

Vacation time

Year-long

Study patterns:

full time or part-time

undergraduate/postgraduate

worker student/student worker

Student working: accommodated,

encouraged or opposed?

Italy: part-time study options, class timing to

accommodate work

Poland: regarded as positive for employability,

facilitated by university services

France: national employment service on

campus, some timetable/exam flexibility

possible

UK: class distinction – discouraged by “top”

universities, facilitated by “post-92” universities

Finding work

students rely overwhelmingly on personal

contacts or direct approaches to

employers, or in some cases web

searches.

If an agency is to be used, it is most likely

to be the student employment service.

Special status for student

workers?

recognition for exams (leave, shift

arrangements), right to education – 150 hrs

(Italy)

employer exemption form social security

contributions (Poland)

specific contracts for professional training at

work as part of studies (France, UK)

Type of employer

By sector

Sector % responses Range

Education 16.8 8.1% (It) - 21.3% (Sp)

Hospitality 14.4 6.6% (Pl) - 31% (It)

Retail/wholesale 10.6 4.8% (Cz) - 16.0% (UK)

Other business services 8.4 2.1% (Fr) - 17.1% (Pl)

Public administration 6.4 2.6% (Pl) – 9.6% (Lv)

Total for top sectors 56.6

By occupation

Occupational group % responses Range

Sales & customer

service

23.0 9.3% (Cz) – 44.7% (UK)

Professional 16.5 5.9% (Fr) – 42.2% (Lv)

Administrative &

secretarial

15.2 6.8% (UK) – 32.9% (Cz)

Elementary 12.2 2.2% (Pl) – 20.3% (Sp)

Total for top groups 66.9

Type of work

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Number ofreplies

Type of work

Part-time, but not necessarily temporary or

unstable:

50% had only one job over past 12 months, further

28% had two

Arrangement of hours:

weekends, evenings

Half in jobs associated with studies

“flexibility”

Summary

permanent & significant feature of labour market

only partially recognised

customer facing and professional occupations

unsocial or atypical hours

particularly important supply of labour in some

sectors, both commercial and public

but is it precarious?