Pay only rises by tiny degree

Two-thirds of graduates think they are underpaid and half say they are embarrassed about how much they earn.

After years of hard graft to earn a degree, many question whether it was worth it as the financial rewards don’t reflect the effort and commitment.

More than three quarters feel the pay they get on completing university is not keeping up with the rising cost of living, while just over a fifth said they thought starting salaries were fair.

The research from short-term lender Satsuma reveals that expectations from graduates about what they believe they will earn are realistic, but that doesn’t make them content with low pay.

It means almost half are forced to live with their parents as they cannot afford rent.

A quarter of graduates said they expected to earn less than £18,000, compared to almost two-fifths who actually earn such a figure. Almost a quarter expected to earn £25,000 to £30,000, but fewer than one in five have jobs paying that much.

It’s not just people in their first job who are fed up with their lot at work. Things aren’t looking too rosy for millions of grafters who seem to be simply going through the motions, according to research from Totaljobs.

Two out of three staff say they are bored enough to quit their role, three out of five feel nauseous about going to work each day and half spend work time searching for a new job.

Just one in 10 say they are fully engaged in their job. It’s not surprising when you consider that two-thirds haven’t been offered a pay rise, and the same number have had no training, over the past 12 months.