We have all seen the Press Release by the Association of Graduate Recruiters and the attention-grabbing headlines by national news outlets that each graduate vacancy attracts 85 applications. But as an Engineer, I wanted to see the data and visualise it. As we are all short of time, you can find a visual and a short summary below that explain the latest graduate recruitment stats.
According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which today (10 July 2013) published the summer edition of its bi-annual survey, there has been a slight decrease of 4% in the number of available graduate vacancies, when compared to the previous graduate season.
However, this year’s survey also reports significant pockets of growth. There are expected increases in the number of vacancies available in regions outside London, including the South East (up from 10% to 12%), the West Midlands (up from 6% to 8%), and Scotland (up from 5% to 7%).
There was further good news for some regions, with areas including the West Midlands, Scotland and the East of England now on par with the South East’s median salary of £25,000 for the first time. London continues to attract the highest median graduate starting salary at £28,500
At the other end of the spectrum, banking and financial services predicted a large decrease of 45% – substantially more than the expected decrease of 28% reported in the AGR’s Winter 2013 Review. Respondents from the banking and financial services industries noted that general market conditions had resulted in their hesitancy to recruit new graduates.
Stephen Isherwood, new Chief Executive of the AGR, said: “The story of the current graduate market is the story of the economy – stagnant in places with growth in some areas. Overall vacancies are slightly down (4%) on last year’s and there is no salary growth. However, we can take comfort in the fact that the graduate recruitment industry is still investing heavily in its graduate intakes.
The AGR is the leading voice of graduate recruiters and developers and its bi-annual survey provides the most extensive and detailed insight into the state of the graduate jobs market. Today’s edition is based on the responses of 209 AGR members in the UK across 19 sectors, which will provide an estimated 18,913 graduate vacancies in 2013. Information was captured through an online survey that was hosted on the CFE website for four weeks in April and May 2013.
