“Graduates in non-graduate occupations” are such a clear trend in Britain that they now have their own acronym: “gringos.” But according to two academics, graduates working in pubs and call centers might be more to blame for their own fates, rather than the shaky state of the economy.
For those who have graduated in Britain since the 2008 financial crash, job hunting has often been a tale of woe – almost half of employed recent graduates in 2013 were working in what the Office for National Statistics classes as a “non-graduate role.”
Gringos see their non-graduate jobs as a “stepping stone” to a better position in the future, which stops them worrying about their career, according to Tracy Scurry, a lecturer at Newcastle University Business School, and John Blenkinsopp, a professor at Hull University Business School.
Unfortunately, this means that many do not hunt for roles that use their skills gained through higher education, they write in the latest edition of Graduate Management Trends, published by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit.