High-flyers itch to change jobs after five years

Graduate recruiters today worry less about ending up with unfilled vacancies, even though a quarter currently expect to do so, than they are with wastage, the loss of those graduates they do sign up. Two studies published at the annual conference of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) support this view.

The first, Graduate Salaries and Vacancies 1999 Summer Update Survey, found that vacancies this year are expected to fall 1.6 per cent from last year. But this does not reflect an overall decline. Industry expects a 2.5 per cent growth in vacancies, with growth especially marked in electrical and electronic engineering (13 per cent up). Parts of the non-industrial sector are also growing fast, with public sector vacancies up almost a fifth. The real casualties are the retail sector, down nearly a third, and construction, down by almost a quarter. The median salary paid to newly qualified graduates this year is expected to be pounds 17,400, up 5. 5 per cent on 1998.

Dr Jane Sturges of the department of occupational psychology at Birkbeck College and co-author of the second study, Should I stay or Should I Go?, on retention quotes AGR research showing that organisations are lucky if half their graduate recruits are still with them five years after they join. The High Flyers Research 1997 survey of university finalists found that over half anticipated leaving within four years of joining. "Organisations therefore have to work hard if they wish to overcome these expectations of mobility."

Retention rates vary widely across business sectors and employers admit that they know little about what lies behind their retention patterns and why some appear to be more successful than others.

The study identified 11 key issues which employers must confront to keep their graduate recruits. These included hiring people who will fit into the corporate culture and so enjoy working for them; meeting the work and career expectations they encourage graduates to form during the recruitment process; giving graduates challenging work roles; providing access to high quality training and development; and ensuring that career management is a shared responsibility between employer and individual and not left for graduates to handle on their own.

The role played by line managers and senior managers is also crucial in developing graduates' commitment to the organisation. Moreover, employers must respond to graduates" desire to be able to balance work life with home life.

The vocational skills which employers now expect graduates to have before they enter the world of work have been given a confusing variety of names - including key skills, transferable skills and personal skills.

Sue Otter from the Department for Education and Employment, offering a personal not an official view, said that "skills terminology is confusing - there are too many confusing initiatives and more talk than action." She wondered whether employers are unsure about what they want, or whether it is becoming more difficult to identify graduates with the potential to make a difference within organisations.

"We need a simple typology" she said, listing the five "key skills" - communication, number, IT, working with others, and improving own performance. To these she added "the skills you expect graduates to have developed ... analytical skills, critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, nous and getting on with it."

The benefits to employers of giving students work experience is that they are a cost effective source of skills, they are readily available and can be used flexibly, they can help to develop ideas currently on the back-burner because of pressure of work, and they are in touch with leading edge technology. Moreover, employers can assess students with a view to full-time employment on graduation - "a long interview with no commitment". The National Centre for Work Experience will publish an employer's guide to work experience next month.

Both the 'Graduate Salaries and Vacancies 1999 Summer Update Survey' and the 'Should I stay or Should I Go?' study are available from the AGR (Tel: 01926 623236).