The European Union Is the Model for a One-world Socialist Government
Increasing Proportion of Students Want to Work in the Public Sector
Survey shows almost a third of graduates have identified the public sector as their preferred place of work, despite the swingeing programme of cutsApril 4, 2011
Guardian - An increasing proportion of students want to work in the public sector, despite the government's swingeing programme of job cuts and plans to end its much-envied final salary pension schemes, according to a major survey conducted in association with the Guardian. Female students are particularly positive, with more than 34% indicating they most want a job in the public sector.
The Guardian UK300 survey of the country's most popular graduate recruiters – which was formally unveiled on 4 April – reveals that 29% of all students want to work in the public sector, an increase of 0.3% since 2010 and 5.8% since 2009. The next most popular career category is scientific research and development with 19.5%, followed by media and advertising with 19.2%.
Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, said she wasn't surprised by the findings.
"People feel proud to work in the public sector," she said. "And young people want a better world to live in. Public sector employers have set the standard for others, particularly with issues like equality in the workplace."
More than 15,000 students from 96 UK universities took part in the online poll, conducted by recruitment research company Trendence between October 2010 to January 2011 and promoted through university careers services. Part of the survey asked participants to identify the two sectors they most wanted to work in after graduation.
As well as the clear preference among female students for public sector work, the survey also showed it was the second most popular choice among male respondents, with one in five citing it as a preferred career destination.
Chris Manley, a senior careers adviser at the University of Warwick, said the current government cuts did not seem to be deterring the students he had spoken to.
"They are more likely to say, 'I'm aware there are going to be enormous challenges in a public sector career … but I still want to do it'," he said.Danielle Foster, 22, a speech and language therapy postgraduate student at the University of Essex who eventually hopes to find work in the NHS, agreed with that view:
"There is a worry among all of us on the course that we won't get jobs. But any anger is not so much about that, but about the money not being there to help people. There's no point having jobs if resources aren't there for people who need them."
Manley said he thought there were pragmatic as well as passionate reasons for the public sector's popularity among students. "There are some who see it as wanting to give something back, but that isn't all of them," he said.
"A lot of students see some public sector roles as a way to be involved in politics, but without the party politics. For those trying to get on to the civil service fast-track scheme, for example, it's a move into strategic work. The opportunity to be part of a structured development scheme also appeals."
The Guardian UK300 survey found that students were equally split on the issue of whether they should have to pay for tertiary education, with identical percentages – 47.4% – agreeing and disagreeing, and 5.2% saying they had no opinion.
On the issue of finding work, students were more united with almost 73% thinking it would be tough to get a good job in 2011. Foster said she remained hopeful of finding work and the NHS was her first preference. "It still seems a good place to be working. And it's nicer not having to charge people for something they need."
But perhaps in a foreshadow of things to come, she said she would be willing to look elsewhere for speech and language therapy work if the need arose.
"There are a lot more jobs coming up in the private sector," she admitted. "People are realising they need these services even if they're not available, and are finding the money to pay for them themselves."
Public Sector Now 53% of Economy as Record 6.09 Million Britons Work for the State
March 23, 2010
Daily Mail - The public sector has ballooned under Labour to make up more than half of the economy.
State spending now accounts for 53.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 40 per cent when Labour came to power in 1997.
Britain's public sector is now bigger than the European Union average of 50.4 per cent, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development figures.
Just some of the advertisements for high-paying public sector jobs that account for state spending
The Daily Mail revealed last week how the latest unemployment figures showed that private sector employees have been facing the sack, while a record 6.09 million Britons now work in the public sector.
Around 1,440 private sector workers lost their jobs each day last year -- but the number of state employees rose by 126 a day, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Even Ireland and Iceland, badly hit by the financial crisis, generate a greater proportion of national income from private endeavour than Britain.
In Australia, state spending accounts for just 36.6 per cent of the economy while in America the proportion is 41.5 per cent.
The Labour Government has openly championed the growth of the state in recent months, insisting that were it not for state intervention, many more people would be out of work.
But the OECD figures do not even include the bailout of banks. The public deficit is now at a record £150billion.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has insisted there will be no giveaways in his Budget tomorrow but he is expected to unveil plans for even more state spending through a 'green' investment bank.
The Tories have seized on the revelations.
Shadow Chief Treasury Secretary Phil Hammond said voters had to chose between 'the Conservatives' pledge to raise the private sector's share of the economy in every region and five more years of Labour's debt-driven model'.
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