The chief executive of a FTSE 250 technology firm has urged ministers to push unemployed graduates towards careers in teaching and nursing to help tackle severe staffing shortages across the public sector.
Rod Flavell, who leads FDM Group, said job centres should take a far more active role in directing degree‑holders into professions facing critical recruitment gaps rather than leaving them on benefits.
It was revealed this week that 700,000 graduates are now claiming benefits, with new figures showing a sharp post‑pandemic rise in the number of people who say they are too sick to work.
He argued that job centre staff themselves need better training to understand the range of opportunities available.
“The Government should train people in the job centres effectively,” he said.
“If you are going to put people into contact with unemployed members of the public, they really need to have an idea of what the opportunities are.”
New analysis from the Centre for Social Justice shows more than 700,000 graduates are currently claiming some form of benefit while out of work.
The findings come as unemployment rises across the UK, with the jobless rate climbing to 5.1 per cent, its highest level in four years, after a marked increase since the Labour Government took office.
The think tank said growing numbers of graduates are leaving university with degrees that do not translate easily into employment, contributing to a widening mismatch between qualifications and labour market demand.
Teaching is among the sectors under the greatest strain.
Job centres should actively direct degree holders into public sector roles, he said
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Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research shows unfilled vacancies running at six times pre‑pandemic levels, raising concerns about the long‑term sustainability of staffing in schools.
Healthcare faces similar pressures, with the NHS warning that tens of thousands of additional nurses will be needed in the coming decades unless training numbers rise sharply.
Mr Flavell questioned why the health service continues to rely heavily on temporary staff paid at higher rates when a pool of unemployed graduates could be trained to fill permanent roles.
“Why do we have so many supply workers on double pay working in the health service?” he said.
“Probably because, again, we have a graduate population that can’t seem to get from being at home to going into training as a nurse, for example.”
He questioned why the health service continues to rely heavily on temporary staff paid
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He said job centres should actively promote teaching and nursing to graduates seeking work and called for a renewed focus on vocational training.
Apprenticeships, he argued, offer a practical route into stable employment and help employers secure the skills they need.
With unemployment at 5.1 per cent, equivalent to around one million people, Mr Flavell said the UK is missing a significant opportunity.
“If we are saying that a significant number are graduates, then why are they not being driven towards jobs like teaching and nursing?”
Drawing on his own background, he said his upbringing shaped his belief in practical career paths.
“You had to go and put yourself in a box and be something, whether it was a bricklayer or a roofer or an engineer or an IT programmer.”
FDM Group, which employs around 2,500 staff worldwide, specialises in training graduates and placing them into technology and professional roles.
Mr Flavell said the company’s model shows how structured training can bridge the gap between education and employment.
He also raised concerns about the impact of remote‑working expectations on the labour market, saying some jobseekers refuse roles that do not offer working from home.
He also raised concerns about the impact of remote‑working expectations
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He contrasted attitudes in the UK with those in Manhattan, Toronto, Singapore and across Europe, where staff routinely attend the workplace on Fridays.
“It seems to be specific to the UK,” he said.
“We are still trying to get to the other side of the Covid culture to a certain extent.”
His comments come as policymakers continue to debate how best to reduce unemployment and address persistent staffing shortages in key public services.