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[...] The survey of more than 20,000 final-year students from 30 British universities — conducted in February by recruitment specialists High Fliers Research — also found that the number of graduates applying to work in investment banking, finance and accountancy has dropped by nearly a fifth during the past year. Analysts attribute this to uncertainty over the future location of financial services jobs post-Brexit.
This negative outlook among students underlines the fact that the UK’s departure from the EU has caused deep divisions along generational and educational lines.
A recent study by the National Centre for Social Research found that 22 per cent of graduates had voted to leave the EU, compared with 72 per cent of those with no GCSEs. Meanwhile, just 28 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 voted to leave, while 63 per cent of those aged over 65 opted for Brexit.
Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said students had reacted quickly to the referendum outcome. The volume of graduates applying for jobs in investment banking has sunk to just 9.6 per cent, according to the latest research — the lowest level since 2009, when applications were hit by the financial crisis.
“In the weeks and months after last summer’s Brexit vote, several of the City’s best-known investment banks stated very publicly that many of their London-based jobs could move elsewhere in Europe when the UK leaves the EU, fuelling real concern and uncertainty among final year students looking for their first graduate job after university,” he said.