The Great Britain brain-drain: 70% of graduates set to avoid the world of work and move abroad



11% will go for more than five years

Potential economic impact on the UK could be huge

As 350,000 students prepare to graduate this July, the UK could this year face a potential 'brain-drain' as graduates move abroad in search of better career opportunities.



A study, which questioned 500 young people of graduation age, explored attitudes towards travelling and working abroad, and was commissioned to help student and traveller shipping specialist, 1StopShip understand ‘Gen Y’ moving trends.



It found that instead of putting their hard earned degree to good use, 47per cent of young people were planning to move abroad in the next 12 months, while 23per cent were actively considering it.



It is thought as much as 70% of graduates will look to move abroad rather than enter the world of work

The majority (43per cent) were planning to do this for the medium-long term (up to 5 years), while 11per cent predicted they would remain overseas for more than five years.



The top destinations emerged as New York (58per cent), Sydney (34per cent), L.A. (26per cent) Melbourne (23per cent), and Beijing (19per cent) while the top reasons for wanting to move abroad were better job prospects (47per cent), spiralling living costs in the UK (26per cent) or disillusionment with UK politics (21per cent).



Recent Government figures suggest that graduates contribute to the UK economy almost 10 times what it costs the state to educate them, in turn bringing in £180,000 more to the economy than those with A-levels over their working life.



This continued trend could therefore impede the UK’s fragile economic recovery.



Ian Brown, from 1StopShip said: 'A good proportion of our customer base is made up of young people – often graduates – who decide to defer the world of work in favour of travelling or working abroad. This can be for a variety of reasons, and often it’s a case of balancing the need to build a career with the opportunity to experience new cultures and gain valuable life experiences.

