Has London got the goods for grads?
Graduates are turning their backs on the bright lights of London, research has found.
The ever-increasing cost of living in the capital is putting off graduates, according to Milkround.com, despite the higher salaries on offer.
Statistics have shown that 71% of graduates were expecting to look for work in the capital last year, but this figure has since fallen to 61%.
However, other graduate hotspots – including the south east as a whole - have become more popular. Nearly 25% of graduates see themselves working in the south east, up from 19% last year.
However areas such as Wales and North East Ireland still remain a no man’s land for job seeking graduates, with just 2% see themselves working there. This is despite recent campaigns to attract graduates to Ireland, and the increasing attractiveness of Cardiff to businesses.
Milkround.com spokesperson, Mike Bernard, said: “As the realities of a recession sink in, even more graduates may well shy away from working in London where the cost of living is known to be potentially higher than anywhere else in the UK.”
Despite the lack of enthusiasm for living in the capital, 73% still want to live in a city, according to the research. Bernard added that ‘popular alternatives to London might include Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol and Birmingham’.
