Job-seeking graduates face greater demands

Employers in Britain are insisting that students meet strict recruitment conditions this year after being overwhelmed by applications for a declining number of jobs, according to research.

Almost eight in 10 employers (77.5 per cent) are now asking for at least a 2:1 degree as a minimum requirement, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters bi-annual survey. This is up from 66.7 per cent last year.

And the numbers demanding applicants have relevant work experience doubled - with 33.5 per cent requesting it this year compared with 15.2 per cent in 2009, it said.

Some 6.8 per cent of employers are asking for graduates from specific universities, up from 2.5 per cent last year.

Almost two-thirds of employers (62.8 per cent) are now asking that applicants demonstrate certain competencies.

It comes as employers warn the number of graduate vacancies fell by almost seven per cent this year - leaving students facing a desperate battle to find employment.

The AGR's survey is based on responses given by 199 AGR member firms in May this year.

The findings show that employers are predicting a 6.9 per cent decrease in graduate vacancies during 2010 - four times the proportion they initially forecast around six months ago.

It means that there are now on average almost 69 graduates fighting for every job-up from an average of nearly 49 applications per vacancy last year.

The report suggests this is due not only to a fall in jobs available, but because students from the past two years who failed to find work the year they graduated are also competing for this year's vacancies.

The study did find that some sectors are performing better than others - with banking and financial services, insurance, consulting and business services, construction, and accountancy predicting they will have more vacancies this year.

But investment banking, the public sector, law, engineering, retail, telecommunications and IT and large consumer firms are all predicting decreases, the survey found.

Salaries are also frozen again this year, with new graduates earning £25,000 on average - the same as in 2008.

AGR chief executive officer Carl Gilleard said: "Two consecutive years of decreases in vacancy levels is a familiar pattern during an economic downturn."

He added: "Employers' earlier predictions for this year's recruitment season have turned out to be somewhat premature in their optimism and today's findings suggest that the recovery is going to be slower than previously thought.

"Recruiters are under intense pressure this year dealing with a huge number of applications from graduates for a diminishing pool of jobs. Those of our members who took part in the survey reported a total of 686,660 applications since the beginning of the 2010 recruitment campaign.

"It is hardly surprising then that the number of employers asking for a 2.1 degree has shot up by 11 percentage points. However, while this approach does aid the sifting process it can rule out promising candidates with the right work skills unnecessarily. We are encouraging our members to look beyond the degree classification when narrowing down the field of candidates to manageable proportions."

The survey comes a week after the Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU) predicted that graduate unemployment will rise to record levels if public sector budgets are cut by 25 per cent.