Graduates tell firms: cut training at your peril

Almost 100% of grads may stay if training is offered
Without training almost half of grads will move in better economy

Companies that want to hang on to the graduates that they have and continue to attract the best should look to their training programmes. This is the key finding from research carried out among graduates by TMP Worldwide and TARGETjobs.

Almost half, (43%) of graduates who are in their first or second job say they would look to change jobs as soon as the economy picks up. They say the only thing that would make them reconsider is if their organisation invested in their career development. An over whelming number – just under 100% - said that the amount of investment in their skills would play a big part in them deciding whether or not to move.

Despite this, a quarter of working graduates have already seen their organisations cutback on training.

Neil Harrison, Head of Research and Planning at TMP Worldwide says: ìThe message from graduates is really quite clear - employers that fail to invest in training programmes risk losing the new recruits that they took significant time and effort to recruit and train. For now, companies might be hanging on to graduate staff because there are limited opportunities for them to move on but there is no doubt that these graduates will be off just as quick as you can say ëgreen shootsí unless they can see that the company is developing their skills and therefore their career prospects.

ìHaving survived the economic downturn, companies that fail to invest in training could go to the wall as valued employees jump ship for better career offers,î he added.

The research also showed that training was considered key not just to newly working graduates but to final year students. Over 90% of them believe that organisations that continue to invest in their people will come out of the recession stronger. Whilst they acknowledge that training budgets may have shrunk and will view companies claiming the opposite with some scepticism, they demand honesty about training opportunities from employers during the interview process.

Around 90% of final year students broadly or definitely agree that that investment in skills development plays a major part in how they view a potential employer. Nearly two thirds (62%) who have already secured a job offer say that they definitely agree, although those without a job offer might not be so particular with less than half (44%) saying that they definitely agree to this.