July 2023
Graduates entering the labour market are facing a real-term cut to their pay of up to £6,5000, as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
Analysis by the Daily Telegraph newspaper shows university leavers starting work are now thousands of pounds worse off than before the pandemic.
Using Indeed data, the Telegraph team discovered the average starting salary for graduates is £26,500, up from £24,000 at the start of 2019. However, when inflation is taken into account this represents a 7% decline, which means that compared with 2019 today’s graduate pay is worth just £22,237.
Jack Kennedy, UK economist at Indeed, told the Telegraph: “A lot of employers are facing calls from their existing staff to raise wages and they’re probably looking to make savings where possible.
Perhaps they feel that graduate salaries might be one area that they can be a bit more restrained.”
