Public sector budget cuts of around 25% could result in a graduate unemployment rate of over 20%, according to the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU).  

Charlie Ball, deputy research director at HECSU, says: “There are around 39,000 ‘non-frontline’ public sector jobs taken by UK-domiciled graduates annually. I don’t expect them all to be lost, but they don’t need to be to have a significant impact. Even if only a fifth of them were to go and not be replaced, then that would more than double graduate unemployment for the cohort affected in one fell swoop. That would put graduate unemployment over 20% and pushing towards 25%.”