Employers predict 8 per cent rise in graduate vacancies

Citation

(2003), "Employers predict 8 per cent rise in graduate vacancies", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445eab.003

Employers predict 8 per cent rise in graduate vacancies

Employers predict 8 per cent rise in graduate vacancies

Graduate vacancies are expected to rise by 7.9 per cent and graduate starting salaries by 2.5 per cent, reaching a median £20,000, the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) forecasts for 2003. Almost half of recruiters report that they are recruiting more graduates this year than in 2002, while less than one-third are cutting back on their vacancies. This is in contrast to the 6.5 per cent drop in vacancies recruiters reported in last year's survey.

The biggest growth in graduate recruitment for 2003 is in telecommunications (up 61.3 per cent), information technology (up 59.1 per cent), consulting and business services (up 36.4 per cent) and commercial and retail banking (up 36.1 per cent). The largest drops in vacancies are in media companies (down 42.6 per cent), motor manufacturers (down 19.5 per cent) and chemical or pharmaceutical companies (down 13.2 per cent).

By location, the biggest growth in vacancies is in the Midlands (up 18 per cent), East Anglia (up 17.1 per cent) and Wales (up 16.5 per cent), while Ireland will see vacancies fall the most – by 7.7 per cent. Although graduate recruitment in London is set to remain virtually static (up 1 per cent), this area still accounts for the largest proportion of expected vacancies in 2003 – nearly half of all graduate positions are likely to be in or around the capital.

The survey indicates that graduate starting salaries continue to rise, with employers anticipating offering a median starting salary of £20,000 to new graduates in 2003 – £500 higher than in 2002. The national average annual income is currently £17,000. The salaries paid last year show that graduates entering an investment bank or fund management firm receive the highest median starting salaries (£35,000), followed by those in consulting and business services (£28,500) and law (£28,000). The lowest median starting salaries are offered in transport and logistics (£16,000) and media companies (£17,500). Transport and logistics (up 6.3 per cent), construction (up 5.6 per cent), and motor manufacturing (up 4.8 per cent) are predicting the highest growth in starting salaries in 2003. Law, accountancy and professional services, energy, water and utility and oil companies are among those forecasting no change. Salaries for new graduates are set to rise in all parts of the UK in 2003, except London. The strongest salary growth is expected to be in the Midlands (up 8.2 per cent), East Anglia (up 6.7 per cent) and the South East (6.7 per cent), while the weakest is expected to be in the South West (2.1 per cent).

Carl Gilleard, AGR chief executive, commented: "These results show that the graduate-recruitment market is beginning to strengthen again after a year of uncertainty in 2002. Employers are understandably cautious about returning to the high vacancy levels that we saw two or three years ago and the modest salary increases predicted by the survey for 2003 show that recruiters no longer feel the need to pay the ever-escalating salary packages that have been such a feature of the recent graduate-recruitment market."