The graduates ditching the UK to work abroad

This is what Owein Iveson, 24, from Sunderland, is doing as he is about to graduate from Finland’s Aalto University with a masters in design.

Owein says he “fell in love with the country” after visiting for the first time in 2020.

“Finland’s a beautiful country,” he says. “The streets are very clean. It’s a very quiet lifestyle. The nature is fantastic and the public transport works really efficiently.”

Owein lives in Espoo, a city about 15 minutes on the metro from Helsinki, and doesn’t expect to return to the UK anytime soon.

“To be honest the jobs market is not great in Finland, but there is high demand for IT workers, and if you can work across the EU there are many more opportunities.”

Immigration lawyer John Kiely, a London-based partner at international law firm Howard Kennedy, says it is easy to see why more UK graduates are looking overseas.

“When you combine student debt, high housing costs, relatively weak wage growth and uncertainty about future employment, the willingness to roll the dice somewhere else becomes quite rational.”

Back in Sydney, Rachel says the city simply offers a better quality of life than London.

“I don’t see life in Sydney as any more expensive than if I was in London, but personally I have found the perks in Sydney better.”