Graduates being forced into high school-level jobs

Graduates jobs are expected to fall by 5.4 per cent with students expected to take low skilled jobs, reports a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters surveyed 245 graduate recruiters who employ over 20,000 graduates. The survey found a fall in graduate vacancies as well as salary freezing for graduates the first time since the survey began.

The survey reports the average starting salary for a graduate is £25,000 frozen at the same level as 2008. Over a third of Graduate Recruiters claimed the economic downturn was their reason for not recruiting.

Those wanting jobs in the financial sector will be most affected with a fall of 28 per cent in vacancies for graduate and those who do secure jobs facing up to an 8 per cent cut in pay. Engineering, civil service, construction and retail buck the trend by expecting a small rise in vacancies.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters recommends low skill temporary employment or finding graduate level employment in another sector.

The class of 2009 were also the first year to pay top up fees of £3000 giving rise to worries about the financial burden being placed upon many graduates.

Carl Gilleard the Chief Executive of the AGR said “The situation is certainly not as severe as it could be. We saw a sharper decrease in 2003, for example, when recruiters had a negative reaction to the dot.com crash.

By and large, while no one doubts the seriousness of the current economic downturn, the picture for graduate recruitment, though worrying, could be bleaker.”

However, students at the University of Warwick are in a better position than most.

Peter Dunn, spokesman for the University, stated, “In the recent ‘High fliers’ research of top 100 graduate recruiters, Warwick came 3rd in list of institutions they target for recruitment.”