A new report from ‘workforce management' company Manpower reveals that more than half (54%) of graduates who left university in 2004 or earlier are still looking for their first ‘graduate job'.
A mere 28% of graduates looking for ‘graduate-level employment' succeeded in finding work within three months, with a further 12% finding it within the year.
The report, entitled ‘Graduate Skills and the Workplace', looks at the skills, training and recruitment issues facing today's graduates and employers in the UK .
In doing so it highlights a number of discrepancies between the expectations of both groups. For instance, although 54% of graduates believe they are entering the workforce with ‘the necessary skills', only 37% of employers think new graduates have the right skills for the job.
But despite this concern, only around one in eight (13%) of the UK 's employers currently has a graduate training scheme in place.
AGR chief exec Carl Gilleard commented: “The transition into employment for graduates is clearly more difficult and uncertain than for previous generations, pointing to the need for students to be better prepared to manage the transition while in higher education.” He added that internships and work experience placements provide “an invaluable opportunity to learn the workplace skills that employers are looking for.”