BBC OS Conversations on graduate unemployment
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The pandemic, an economic downturn and the cost of living crisis have all taken their toll on the global job market. In China, millions of young people are struggling to find a job and in India 42% of graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed.
Host James Reynolds hears from graduates from India, the United States, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana who either can’t find work or have changed direction from what they studied in order to find success - be it from English via waitressing to financial education - or economics to fashion.
These are stories about resilience and overcoming rejection, with many companies not even responding to job applications.
23 year old Priyanka, from India, lives in the UK after obtaining her degree and then her Masters in London in 2022. She recently signed up with a graduate coach to improve her chances of employment.
“I’ve probably had, out of 800 applications, maybe five interviews so far,” Priyanka says, “So it’s a very, very tough market for an entry level candidate.”
A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I was one of many people that were victims who was used by somebody who was |
| 0:05.2 | psychotic. Let's tell this story. World of Secrets, season 2, The |
| 0:10.9 | Disciples. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:17.0 | Hello I'm James Reynolds. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:22.0 | In BBC IS Convers conversations we bring people together from around the globe |
| 0:26.4 | to share their experiences and this time it's graduates who are finding it difficult to get jobs |
| 0:31.7 | and also those graduates who've made their own opportunities. |
| 0:37.5 | Despite getting a degree many young people are still finding it difficult to get a good job. |
| 0:43.2 | We'll hear a few of those stories, the bone crushing effect of so many rejections, |
| 0:48.8 | but also some tips, including how working in a restaurant helped one of our guests to maintain morale. |
| 0:55.0 | Having the waitress job, I had to get up and go someplace. I couldn't just read a rejection and then lie in bed. |
| 1:01.0 | Some sense of routine helped keep me like, okay, well, today's a |
| 1:06.2 | rejection but I'm going to go to this dinner shift. Tomorrow I'll try again. |
| 1:10.3 | For many people, moving on since the pandemic hasn't been easy. |
| 1:15.0 | Whether it's because of the economy, the cost of living crisis, or the crush of people wanting to get jobs. |
| 1:21.0 | Each part of the world tells a different story of course, but youth |
| 1:24.8 | unemployment is a real problem in many countries. In China, for instance, millions of young people |
| 1:30.4 | are struggling to get a good job. Back in the middle of last year the data |
| 1:34.0 | suggested that more than one in five 16 to 24 year olds was unemployed. This is |
| 1:39.4 | in contrast to a record number of students graduating. |
| 1:43.0 | And that figure is more than doubled when you look at India, |
| 1:46.0 | the world's most populous country where 42% of graduates under 25 are unemployed. You can understand though why many people still want to get a degree. |
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