Over half of employers struggled to find newly graduated employees last year ⁰

Over half of graduate employers are struggling to fill their graduate vacancies, partly due to students reneging on offers. A poll by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) claims that 52 percent of employers did not fill all of their graduate vacancies last year and while one in five offers were declined, 7.1 percent of offers made were accepted and then reneged. The size of the challenge differs by sector. Accountancy, banking and engineering firms are the most likely to find reneging an issue. It is less of a problem in the public sector and among law, utility and IT businesses. However, employers are finding ways to tackle the issue with 97 percent communicating and 78 percent holding events for graduates between offer and join date. As a result the proportion of job offers reneged is falling – in the AGR’s 2015 poll 8.2 percent were reneged. Employers are also being advised to take more of a digital approach to reaching ‘tech savvy’ graduates.

AGR Chief Executive, Stephen Isherwood said: “We are still seeing employers struggling to fill their graduate jobs every year. While the market for talent remains competitive, the trend towards students backing out of their agreements continues to make matters worse.

“Employers are getting a handle on the situation by keeping regular contact with candidates and inviting them to meet with their peers. But students need to adopt a more responsible and respectful approach. Hold on and wait for your offers to come in and give employers notice if you plan to renege.

Added Ian Dowd, Director at NGA Human Resources: “Companies looking to recruit and retain graduates in the workforce need to build their offering around the ‘app generation’. This tech savvy age group will be looking for onboarding and training that matches their way of working and learning. Programmes need to be visual, easy to access and encourage discussion, both amongst graduates and with the wider organisational workforce.

“When considering job offers, graduates must make sure they look at the bigger picture. Whilst salary offers and reward packages are designed to dazzle, they have to make sure the organisation is the right one for them. Key considerations should be future role potential and marketability – as a first step on the career ladder thinking about where the job will take them is vital.”