According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) Annual Survey1 there were 19,732 positions to fill for 2016 compared to 21,427 last year. Vacancies in construction, retail and engineering have decreased the most.
The latest figures follow four years of sustained growth in the graduate recruitment market. Last year the number of graduate jobs had increased by 13% year-on-year.
For some employers the decline in graduate vacancies has been mitigated by an increase in apprenticeships, but not enough to make up for the shortfall.
Among graduate employers, the number of apprenticeships has increased by 13% this year with a total of 10,095 opportunities available2.
The Apprenticeship Levy is having an affect. More than one in ten employers said they were repackaging some graduate roles as higher apprenticeships due to the Levy.
Overall the combined number of vacancies for graduate jobs and apprenticeships has decreased 3% year-on-year.
Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive of the AGR said: “The labour market for young people is shrinking for the first time since the financial crisis, but the composition of the market is also changing as employers invest more in school leaver programmes and apprenticeships.
“The uncertainty of Brexit is the single biggest challenge facing recruiters in the year ahead. Competition for skills and the looming Apprenticeship Levy are also significant concerns.
“While there remain thousands of vacancies available for university graduates, school leavers will find many more different options open to them for high-quality jobs.”
This graduate vacancy information is from the AGR Annual Survey, which launches on 29 September 2016 and provides an extensive insight into the state of the graduate and school leaver jobs market.
www.agr.org.uk
1 The AGR Annual Survey 2016 is based on the responses of 208 AGR members in the UK, from more than 17 sectors and with more than 2.5 million staff. They expect to offer a total of 33,876 graduate and school leaver vacancies in 2016.Year on year data is available for 154 of the employers surveyed, of which there were 19,732 positions to fill for 2016 compared to 21,427 last year.
Sector graduate recruitment trends
|
|
2016 grads |
2015 grads |
%grads |
|
Overall |
19,732 |
21,427 |
-8% |
|
Accountancy or professional services firm |
4988 |
5408 |
-8% |
|
Banking or financial services |
1934 |
2094 |
-8% |
|
Construction company or consultancy |
1121 |
1266 |
-11% |
|
Engineering or industrial company |
1820 |
2106 |
-14% |
|
IT & Telecommunications |
1775 |
1684 |
5% |
|
Law firm |
850 |
895 |
-5% |
|
Public sector |
3261 |
3504 |
-7% |
|
Retail |
1666 |
1975 |
-16% |
2 13% increase in apprenticeships is based on respondents who contributed year-on-year data.
