Graduate vacancies predicted to rise by 11.9% this year

Nick Elvin

Employers are predicting a double-digit rise in graduate vacancies in the coming year, according to research by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

The AGR’s winter edition of its bi-annual survey, published this week, predicts an 11.9% rise in vacancies for the coming recruitment round, following an increase of 4.3% last year, indicating optimism among the association’s members in the context of a steadily growing UK economy.

Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the AGR, said: “Graduate vacancies continue to grow year on year and graduates are still more likely to be employed than non-graduates. But tensions persist. Employers would have recruited more graduates, over 1,400 more, if they could have found enough candidates with the right mix of skills.”

AGR members reported 1,422 unfilled vacancies in 2014. The largest proportion occurred in the IT/telecoms sector, where 11.8% of graduate vacancies remained unfilled. The reasons given for this are varied, with some employers citing students reneging on offers whereas others blame lack of skills.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter (26.5%) of graduate roles in 2013/14 were filled by people who had previously worked for the same employer, for example through an internship or placement.

“The importance of work experience cannot be stressed to students enough,” Isherwood added. “Candidates that understand the world of work, understand their own skills and can translate that into a compelling proposition are much more likely to be successful in the jobs market.”

Sectors to predict a growth in vacancies from 2014 to 2015 include IT and telecoms (26.9%), and the public sector (23%), but construction (22.1%) and engineering (19.7%) are also confident of a rise in graduate positions.

The largest recruiting sector in 2013/14 remained accountancy and professional services (22.2%), followed by the public sector (13.3%), but engineering (12.7%) has leapfrogged the retail sector to take third place.

The survey also looked at school-leaver recruitment programmes, finding that 72.7% of members plan to offer these in 2014/15. While not necessarily reflecting the market as a whole this continues a steady increase in school leaver places among AGR members, up from 54.7% in 2012/13.

“More employers engaging with the schools market is a good thing. It means employers are thinking more holistically about their talent strategies. It also means a greater variety of opportunities for young people,” said Isherwood.