The bright lights and lucrative starting salaries of London are no longer enough to lure many recent graduates from their families and friends, a new study suggests.
Seven out of 10 recent graduates now choose to live and work outside the traditional graduate employment hotspots of London and the South East, according to the latest Graduate Market Trends report from recruiter Graduate Prospects.
The report, which explores the mobility patterns of 2003 graduates six months after leaving university, dispels the myth that all graduates head south.
While London and the South East remain the most popular destinations with just over one in six (17.6%) heading for the capital, and a further 12.3% for the South East, the North West has emerged as the third most popular destination for graduates with 11.3% finding work in the region.
Other popular destinations include: Scotland (8.5%); Yorkshire and the Humber (7.7%); the South West (7%).
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Bottom of the list are Northern Ireland which attracted just 3.1% of recent graduates, the North East (4%) and Wales (4.4%).
Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects, said: “What is surprising now, is the extent of the drift away from the traditional graduate employment hotspots, perhaps reflecting the trend towards increased graduate employment in the public sector and with smaller businesses.”
