AGR advises employers not to cut their graduate recruitment
Release Date: 10 July 2009
The Association of Graduate Recruitment (AGR) has just revealed the results of their summer survey 2009, which is based on the responses of 226 graduate recruiters in the UK.
The main findings pointed in the direction of there being more competition amongst graduates in their quest for a graduate job, a decline in the amount of graduate jobs available, and the stagnant nature of graduate salaries - all of which will only fill graduates with yet more fear about the prospect of securing a job.
Employers are still being warned not to cut their graduate recruitment levels – particularly following the results of the AGR survey, which showed that 62.7% of employers are offering fewer graduate vacancies than last year. Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the AGR, said: “The AGR continues to campaign on behalf of graduate recruitment in the UK and over the next year we will be focussing all our efforts on discouraging short-termism and ensuring employers do not back away from their graduate schemes.”
Sarah Evans, Director of Client Services at Discovery Graduates, agrees that employing graduates within your business is essential for growth and development in the future however businesses nervous about recruiting graduates on high profile graduate management schemes should look for other opportunities to bring new talent into their businesses.
“We increasingly hear from companies about the need to ‘grow their own talent’ but due to the current economic climate a graduate scheme is not feasible, many companies are now seeing the benefit of recruiting a graduate into a direct role. This often leads to a clearer succession plan within the business and a quicker return on investment. This is not a short cut, graduates still need to be trained and supported, but will be more focused on where they will be in their careers and can start making a contribution quicker.
Related Information: