Foreign holidays and designer wardrobes low priority

Foreign holidays and designer wardrobes are of low importance to graduate job starters, whereas owning their own home and receiving tax efficient benefits such as pensions, private health care and tax-free childcare are top priority to them according to a survey.

These are just some of the key findings in the survey carried out by pandmm, the UKís leading performance improvement business with the help of Pareto Law, the graduate recruitment consultancy, to gain further insight into this group of workers.

The survey also found that:

- Half of graduates would like - and expect - to retire before they are 60

- Over half of them would prefer a job they loved even if it paid poorly

- 34 per cent expect to earn more than 50K per year after 10 years while 19 per cent believe that they will be earning between 40-50K a year

When questioned about lifestyle ambitions, almost two thirds (64 per cent) of those surveyed cited owning their own home as the number one lifestyle ambition, compared to marriage, which claimed just under one fifth of the vote (16 per cent). Further lifestyle ambitions included regular holidays abroad (7 per cent) and a designer wardrobe, which came in at surprisingly low 2 per cent, disproving theories that graduates are only interested in living for now rather than securing their future.

Asked about the top employee benefits they would like to receive when deciding what they were looking for in a future employer, 60 per cent chose tax efficient benefits, which incorporated pensions, private healthcare, tax free childcare vouchers and tax free bicycles. Duvet days (8 per cent) and gym membership (5 per cent) were well down the list.

Over half of those surveyed (58 per cent) stated that they would rather be in a job they loved that paid poorly than in a job they hated that but paid well suggests that graduates are motivated and value happiness and job satisfaction higher than money alone. Just under one fifth (16 per cent) stated that they cared more about climbing the career ladder than making friends with colleagues.

When asked how long they expected to be paying back student debt accumulated while attending university, almost a third (27 per cent) stated that they anticipated repaying their student debt within three to five years. Just over one fifth believed that they would be able to pay back their student debt within one to three years (21 per cent). However, these results are surprising when coupled with the next question they were asked. A staggering four out of five respondents (79 per cent) stated that they had not sought any advise on how to manage their student debt, however, just under half (48 per cent) stated that they did have an action plan to pay back their student debt.

Nearly half of those surveyed (44 per cent) expected to earn between 18-20K in their first graduate position. Just over a quarter of respondents (28 per cent) believed that they would earn between 15-17K. However, these figures changed quite dramatically when questioned over potential earnings in ten years time. 19 per cent believed that they would be earning between 40-50K 10 years after they left university.

Questions on retirement also instigated some insightful and intriguing results. Over half (52 per cent) said they realistically expected to retire between the ages of 51 - 60, well below the UK retirement age. Just under one fifth (16 per cent) said they expected to retire between the ages of 61 - 70.

David Lebond, executive director at pandmm, who commissioned the research, commented: What these results have shown us is that graduates are thinking about their long term goals and future ambitions from the start of their working careers. What has also been highlighted is that additional added benefits that a company will supply its workforce will outweigh any monetary rewards.

Graduates are looking for a total reward and remuneration package and not just a high salary. If an employer is going to compete in the job market and attract the right calibre of staff then employee benefits are regarded as a must-have.