Recruiting graduates is essential for business development
Release Date: 03 July 2009
Employers should continue to recruit graduates if they want their business to flourish after the recession, according to one human resources expert.
Stephanie Bird, board member of European Association of People Management and director at the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development, has warned graduate employers not to cut back on their graduate recruitment now as this is not a cost-effective long-term solution to the recession. She said: “(cutting back on graduate recruitment) is short-term gain in exchange for long-term pain.”
It is clear that many graduate recruiters are following this advice and realising the value that graduates can bring to their organisation, as the recent Recruiter Confidence Snapshot Survey carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) showed that a third of the graduate recruiters that responded to the survey are still planning to recruit in 2009, and 17% expect to recruit more graduates this year than they did in 2008. Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the AGR, highlighted the importance of these statistics at a recent event: “It is really important that graduates coming into the market this year do not despair and assume that there are no jobs whatsoever out there. As today’s snapshot survey shows, though there is certainly nervousness amongst recruiters about the impact of the recession on their business, not all have shut up shop by any means and a very significant number are still looking for bright graduates to take on.”
Sarah Evans, Director of Client Services at Discovery Graduates, has also spoken not only about the importance of continuing to recruit graduates throughout the recession, but the importance of letting graduates know about it:
Many graduates have been bombarded by negative press preaching doom and gloom about the chances of getting a graduate job! But there are still some great opportunities out there either as part of graduate schemes, or direct entry positions in companies looking to grow their own talent. Companies should continue to advertise and promote their opportunities and graduates should keep applying and be flexible about location and industry and they will find something that will help get them on the career ladder.
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