Home > Job News > Graduates > A Surge In Graduate Jobs And Starting Salaries For 2015 < Job News and Info

The latest figures and forecasts from High Fliers Research give some very welcome news on the graduate jobs market, with both the number of graduate vacancies on offer increasing at pace for 2015 - and forcing starting salaries up for graduates at the same time.

The new figures from High Fliers, released earlier this week, suggest that this year will be the best year for graduate job vacancies in more than ten years, with leading employers increasing graduate intake by a fraction short of 8 per cent last year, and, even more encouragingly, expecting to offer a fraction over 8 per cent more graduate vacancies in 2015.

Starting salaries for graduates rose last year for the first time since 2009 and are expected to increase again in 2015, with the median average on offer this year coming in at around £30,000. Over 1 in 4 of the top graduate employers will offer a basic starting salary in excess of £35,000 and a handful will even provide new recruits with over £45,000 in their first year’s pay packet. One of the most generous packages will be available at discount supermarket chain Aldi which is providing this year’s graduate intake with a starting salary of £42,000.

The annual study by High Fliers takes on board the forecasts of the 100 employers which university students in their final year consider to advertise the best opportunities for graduates in the UK.

Organisations canvassed for graduate staffing forecasts in the research include employers across a spectrum of thirteen sectors. Teach First will have the most graduate vacancies up for grabs, with over 2,000 positions expected in 2015. Just a few other big graduate recruiters on the High Fliers list include : BAE Systems, Boots, Cancer Research UK, Deloitte, Google, Jaguar Land Rover, John Lewis Partnership, Lloyds Banking Group, PwC, Red Bull, Santander and Unilever.

A majority of the industry and business sectors encompassed by 100 firms expected to increase graduate recruitment this year - with accounting, the Armed Forces, banking, finance, professional services, retail and the public sector looking particularly strong going forward.

Another encouraging sign is that over 80 per cent of the organisations studied are to offer students paid work experience in 2015, creating over 13,000 opportunities between them. Over 60 per cent will also offer some form of paid internships or industrial placements over the course of the next twelve months. These sort of opportunities are particularly important in the current graduate job market, considering that over half of recruiters say that applicants with no previous work experience are now highly unlikely to secure a permanent graduate job with their organisation.

Offering commentary on the latest figures for the 2015 graduate job scene, Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: “It’s great news that students leaving university this summer who’ve paid higher tuition fees for their degrees will be emerging into the most buoyant graduate job market for over a decade, with a wider choice of graduate vacancies at the country’s most sought-after employers and better starting salaries.”

For a much more in-depth look at the new figures from High Fliers Research and for further details on the outlook for graduate vacancies in the UK this year, check out our blogpost about - What’s In Store For The UK Graduate Job Market In 2015?

Ride the current wave of the UK graduate jobs market now by finding the latest vacancies on the employment4students website. No matter where you are based in the UK, we will have a variety of graduate jobs across a variety of sectors, and your name could be perfect for any single one of them. Get started now with a search for a graduate job in your desired town or city.