With the once distant idea of Brexit fast becoming a reality, concerns over the future of the current labour market have grown. For young people, the impact on the job market presents a lot to be worried about, particularly with the threat of large firms moving their offices to Europe. Giving rise to the gig economy, Brexit means young people face increased job insecurity, resulting in potentially hugely damaging consequences. Whilst there’s no way of perfectly determining what will happen, it’s not all doom and gloom for those starting out in their career – Sharon Walpole, Director of www.Careermap.co.uk, has identified the potential good, the bad and the ugly impacts of Brexit on the labour market…
Apprenticeships
Change doesn’t have to be all bad, in fact 2019 marks a big year for apprenticeships as they are expected to be boosted after Britain’s exit from the European Union. Indeed, whilst the 2017 levy that was introduced by the Government has led to a decline in the total amount of people taking up apprenticeships and a huge strain has been placed on smaller businesses, the quality of apprenticeships has risen greatly. By 2020, The Apprenticeship Levy has promised to create 3 million apprenticeship starts, equipping more young Brits with the opportunity to earn whilst they learn. 
As a result, there has been a rise in the number of those applying for the new high-quality apprenticeship courses as businesses are desperately looking for more highly skilled workers to replace the departing Europeans. Additionally, the opportunity to build a better career within businesses means that retention and motivation within the workplace is expected to improve.
With tuition fees putting so many off university, this is a perfect opportunity to explore what apprenticeships are on offer. Take this time to explore Further Education and School Leaver Programmes as many even offer you the chance to earn yourself a degree or vocational qualification without the student debt.
What about my degree?
With the decline in attractiveness and reputation of the UK after a possible hard Brexit, there is much concern over the loss of funding for humanities and social sciences due to the financial impact that the loss of international students will have. With the expansion of Higher Education into businesses, it has been suggested that whilst The Russell Group will face the biggest economic loss from a decline in international students, they will be given greater support, meaning smaller institutions will lose out. Alongside this, universities could lose their research opportunities abroad, as well as the ability to participate in collaborative funding.
However, a decrease in students can also be positive for UK students as they will be given greater opportunities to benefit from smaller numbers on their course, giving them the ability to build better relationships with lecturers and build better skills for the future.
Travel
European students currently studying in the UK face a race against time to complete their education as the costs of studying are likely to increase. An end to the free movement of people means that immigrants will no longer have the same privileges as British citizens and this works similarly with Britons studying abroad, damaging job prospects as well as access to education and services.
Additionally, the potential scrapping of the EU’s student exchange scheme, ERASMUS, means that young Britons won’t have nearly the same travel opportunities to live and work abroad as older generations had. This can lead to a generation largely closed off from the international world, eliminating opportunities for international friendships and impacting chances in the job market. This does not meant that equivalent schemes cannot be established however, as UK universities will still have strong relationships with European universities, so all might not be lost.
