Should it be half full or half empty for the Class of 2012 Graduates?

According to the ONS 19.6% of 18-24 year olds are unemployed, I’m sure you would agree this paints an unpleasant picture of the labour market for the youth of today. But, is life so bad for those who go through the debt enhancing experience of university.  

According to statistics recently published by HESA 9 out of every 10 graduates find themselves in employment 6 months after finishing their course. Well actually they said 9% are thought to be unemployed, but I am a half full kind of person, regardless, surely with so many in employment that's a good thing?

Despite the slight decrease in the proportion of graduates in work, and therefore the slight increase in unemployment, the What Do Graduates Do Report 2012, which pulls most of its data from the DLHE, showed an increase of nearly 8,000 in the number of graduates in employment compared to the previous year's cohort.

The same report also raised some interesting issues about graduate employment trends.

• It really matters what graduates study when it comes to their chances of landing their first job out of university
• Engineers notably doing very well to find work when they finish, though this doesn't necessarily mean good news for the engineering sector
• No surprise that London has a high prevalence of graduate job availability given that most graduate type vacancies are within business and finance areas 
• The South East & the North West are also regions graduates can also feel more confident of landing a job
• The trend continues its upward journey for those who choose the self-employment route 

For employers this means the war for talent, whilst perceived to be less savage than previous years, is still very much alive.  So if you want to reach for the best talent in a competitive market your recruitment strategy still needs to be geared up for the fight.

We can help you find your tomorrow’s leaders today. 

To find out how please contact Simon Nairn on 0207 061 1910 or via email at Simon.Nairn@gtisolutions.co.uk