Early Careers Survey 2023

Prospects Luminate's Early Careers Survey 2023 reveals the impact of the cost of living crisis, examines attitudes towards hybrid work and study, and explores the key challenges for careers services and employers around engagement and retention

Key findings

• Managing finances overtook mental wellbeing as the biggest issue faced by young people in the past year. More than half of respondents (52%) identified 'money' as their greatest challenge, followed by balancing commitments, taking care of mental health, and staying motivated.
• Half of those surveyed said they had changed their career plans, with two fifths putting this change down to the pressures caused by the cost of living crisis.
• 51% of those in employment were working either remotely or on a hybrid basis. Positive responses focused on greater flexibility, increased productivity and financial savings, but feelings of isolation and concerns about not being able to switch off from work were also prevalent.
• Student engagement with careers advice sessions dropped across all types of activities, with websites, family and friends the go-to sources of help. However, careers professionals were second only to industry insiders as the most helpful guides, indicating just how valuable they are when consulted.
• Of those in work more than a quarter (26%) said they wanted to leave their current employer this year, rising to 34% among those who graduated in 2022, suggesting that employers need to focus on early careers talent retention.
• Finding work placements was not perceived as such a big a challenge as it was in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, but still 25% of respondents hadn't done any in the last 12 months. Among jobseekers, the biggest struggle when applying for jobs (identified by 56% of that group) was not having the required work experience.
• More than a third (35%) of those looking for a job or apprenticeship said they felt 'not at all' or 'not very' prepared for that step, rising to 42% for neurodivergent respondents and 44% for those with a disability.
• Among those who were studying, the highest levels of satisfaction were with face-to-face learning (87%), followed by online (76%) and hybrid study (63%).

What's inside

The Early Careers Survey 2023 includes findings on:

• The biggest challenges of the past year
• Careers advice and guidance
• Work experience
• Gap years
• Career planning
• Jobs and apprenticeships
• Hybrid and remote working
• Study plans and experience

About the Early Careers Survey 2023

Users of Prospects.ac.uk were surveyed between 7 February and 9 March 2023 to find out about their career plans and their experiences over the last 12 months.

The data presented in this report is based on the responses of 4,483 Prospects users, including school pupils, sixth form/college students, apprentices, university students, graduates, and those not in education, employment or training.

A breakdown of the respondents by characteristics including gender, ethnicity and disability is included in the full report.

Previous editions of the Early Careers Survey

• Early Careers Survey 2022
• Early Careers Survey 2021 - part one, part two, part three