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Graduate Job Vacancies To Increase Over 10% In 2014

05 Feb 2014

Graduate Job Vacancies To Increase Over 10% In 2014

New figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) suggest that the number of graduate vacancies available for university leavers in 2014 will be up over 10 per cent on last year.

The statistics from the AGR draw on survey results from over 200 UK graduate employers working in almost twenty different business industries, and suggest that the steepest rises in graduate vacancies will be in the banking, IT, telecoms and energy sectors.

The public sector is also expected to perform well on graduate recruitment, with an expected increase of in graduate opportunities of over 20 per cent on last year.

The news is particularly welcome as it paints an even more optimistic picture than our blogpost just last week about where the jobs market is heading for students, graduates and other young people in 2014. In that post on our student jobs blog we referenced recent figures from High Fliers Research which predicted a graduate job vacancy increase of a fraction under 9 per cent this year. The extra one per cent that AGR members are predicting could mean hundreds more jobs for graduates are on the horizon in 2014.

Chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, Stephen Isherwood, said: “Given the upturn in the economy, and the slight increase in graduate vacancies recorded last year, we'd expect employer predictions to be fairly buoyant for the year ahead; so an expected rise of over 10% is welcome news.”

The AGR figures also back up our prediction in the student jobs outlook blogpost that there will be an increase in the popularity of school leaver programmes for young people in the UK this year. Over half of the firms surveyed by the AGR said they were now actively recruiting school leavers, and a further 15 per cent said that their future recruitment plans included the introduction of school leaver programmes.

Mr Isherwood was quick to point out, however, that firms were not going to simply swap future places on graduate programmes with schemes for school leavers.

“Businesses are investing in a range of different programmes to attract and recruit a diverse range of young people, from apprenticeships and higher apprenticeships, to school-leaver training leading to professional qualifications. It is reassuring that many employers continue to invest heavily in emerging talent," concluded Mr Isherwood.

If you are already looking for a graduate jobs in the UK, then hopefully we can help you find the one you’ve been looking for. We have whole pages dedicated to graduate vacancies in most cities and big towns in England, Scotland and Wales - or you can search different locations, sector and keywords for the exact opportunities you are interested in using our special Graduate Jobs search facility.

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