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  • Newswatch Categories

    • 20% of grads may emigrate for work: study

    Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

    One in five university students surveyed are planning on emigrating to find work, according to a poll taken by University College Cork’s student union in conjunction with Senator Alan Kelly of the Labour Party. The survey interviewed 339 students at UCC, Cork Institute of Technology, University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology.

    The survey found that one-fifth of the final year and post-graduate students are planning to emigrate, while nearly 90% of those surveyed have no work lined up for when their studies finish this summer. Over half feel they have little chance of finding a job, and 63% are pessimistic about the future. About half the students polled are planning to remain in education.

    Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said of the findings:

    “The students in colleges across Munster should be aiming to be the generation who will lead the European project and the Irish economy in the future, but that will not happen if we are just throwing the next generation on the dole queue,” he said.

    The UCC student union has called for a graduate placement programme in response to the survey.

    Additionally, there was an article in the Irish Times highlighting the effects of the downturn on three students; two of the featured students said they were considering emigrating after graduating.

    One of them, Alan O’Connor, a 23-year-old science student at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, said, “I’ve sent out a load of CVs, but have had no response yet. I’ll keep trying until September and then I’ll head to Canada.”

    Related articles:

    Union highlights teachers’ emigration

    Monday, March 30th, 2009

    Teachers are the latest profession to be in the emigrant spotlight, with the news that the Association of Teachers in Ireland has said that new teachers will be more likely to find work abroad.

    The Sunday Business Post says that 2,500 to 3,000 temporary or part-time teachers would have ordinarily expected to find full-time work in Ireland; secondary school teachers generally spend between five and seven years before getting a full-time post. With cutbacks and an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio, however, there will be fewer jobs available to move into.

    ASTI general secretary John White said,

    So, your bright young person coming out from college will almost certainly be only able to get hours by filling in for people on career breaks, maternity or sick leave, or taking up the other half of a job-sharing position.That represents a very significant reduction in their standard of living and we are very concerned abou that. This is a very significant issue.

    We are very concerned for them. It seems particularly sad as our teachers are in demand. From September, they will be going to work in England and other countries where there is a shortage of teachers.

    Read the article:
    Sunday Business Post: ASTI: Teachers may have to emigrate