No, that isn’t Mrs Robinson in some strange updated dream sequence. It’s an illustration of the miserable lot of the graduate these days.

Ruth Laugesen writes:

Although New Zealand’s Generation Y is not as severely affected as Europe’s so-called “lost generation” by the global financial crisis that began to bite in 2009, experts say young people entering the job market now are at risk of “labour-market scarring”, of being trapped in low-paid and less-secure jobs, with long-term consequences. And with many new graduates having to settle for less-skilled positions, those without higher qualifications are being pushed even further down the job queue.

Jason Walker, managing director of recruitment agency Hays, says he is seeing many graduates taking jobs in call centres and in administration and support roles, traditionally work that does not require a tertiary qualification. “They seem to be fairly grateful to at least get an opportunity as afirst step to get into some sort of place of employment.”

The situation has “flipped” from five years ago, when new graduates could expect to have companies wooing them. “Unemployment was at 3.6%. There was no spare capacity. You could not buy experience anywhere. So you needed to take on and train good people. Graduates became king.

“They were called the Freddie Mercury generation – I want it all and I want it now. But that has changed. It was very much a product of the job market.”

A recent Committee for Auckland survey of key businesses found employers complaining that many young would-be employees lack “citizenship skills” – the ability to present well and communicate well. However, Walker says he has been impressed by today’s graduate job-seekers.

“There’s been a real change in attitude. It’s a move back to hard graft. They appreciate what they have to do, they have to go the extra mile, and those graduates who are very competitive will go out and try to find any sort of work that will give them some increased competency or skill to help them in their job search.” Many offer to work as unpaid interns to gain experience or get a reference.

What else?

Jane Clifton writes on John Key’s Brighter Future forecasting.

Susan Chenery writes on Gina Rinehart, the fabulously wealthy mining magnate and would-be media mogul.

New Zealand’s own rich-lister, Owen Glenn, talks to Guyon Espiner about philanthropy, boarding school abuse, the Big Fellah, Helen Clark’s UN work, political donations and his new book.

How to enjoy a 20% improvement in cognitive ability.

In the lead-up to National Poetry Day, the three poetry finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards and the winner of the Best First Book of Poetry award talk to Sally Blundell.

Plus all the usual columns, critiques, crosswords and the rest.