Digital globalisation and graduate careers: Work-readiness as the new frontier [short version]

Work-readiness employability• Middle-office jobs which provide the formative experience to professional careers are beingoffshored.• Employers report that talent-pipelines into mid-level, knowledge-based roles are drying up!• Higher education has raised employability levels, but the bar has been raised again. In adigitally-connected world, work can be moved to the ‘cheapest place on earth’!• Graduates now need to be employable to get the job, and also work-ready to do the job in theface of declining graduate training programmes and overseas competition.• Universities have an ethical responsibility to ensure that their students can compete in aglobal market and build sustainable careers.