Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Graduate Salaries, Part Three

The Association of Graduate Recruiters survey is now out, as everyone who enjoyed this morning's balanced and temperate Times headlines will now realise.

The survey had been conducted by High Fliers for some time, but Hobsons have now taken it over - High Fliers responded by publishing a very similar survey last month anyway.

This one polls 222 organisations (largely blue-chip and London-based, and fewer than last year), and asks them how they see their hiring intentions this year. They largely come back very positive, with a large rise in vacancies, and a modest predicted rise in starting salaries to an average of £23,000, up from £22,000 this time last year.

What has fuelled some of the shriller headlines is the finding that some employers have had trouble filling positions over the last 12 months. Some of it is because applicants don't have 'the right skills', and some because of 'graduates' perception of the industry sector', which is an interesting one. This happened last year as well, although the survey at the time didn't say which organisations had trouble.

The other thing that has caused wailing from some quarters is the announcement that average salaries for the public sector are up 9.8%. The AGR survey is not strong on the public sector - last year's survey covered 12 whole public sector organisations, including one of this year's big (and high-paying) graduate recruiters - The Army (who have been advertising very heavily for graduate recruits this year). This makes me suspect that all we're seeing there is a reflection of an increased hiring regime by the Armed Forces.

At the time of writing, the survey's not available online, so I haven't read it - more when I have.

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