Out of university – and into ruthless arena where 150 vie for single post

Published on Sunday 5 July 2009 22:12

GRADUATE jobs have fallen by a quarter this year, new figures revealed today.

Vacancies have plummeted by 24.9 per cent in the latest graduate recruitment round, and are now approaching levels not seen since the recession in 1991, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

Their biannual survey of graduate recruitment shows that competition for jobs has intensified, with 48 graduates on average now competing for every vacancy, up from 30 this time last year.

About one in seven employers report receiving more than 150 applications for each job.

Overall, two-thirds of graduate employers are offering fewer jobs this recruitment season than in previous years, with more than one in eight cutting 50 or more vacancies, as they feel they effects of the global economic downturn.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) have between one and ten fewer jobs for graduates this summer, while one in seven has 11-25 fewer vacancies, and 9 per cent have 26-50 fewer vacancies. The AGR's survey of 226 graduate employers shows that investment banking, IT, construction and engineering have all seen vacancy cuts of more than 40 per cent – amounting to hundreds of graduates without a job.

The accountancy sector has seen its vacancies drop by a fifth since 2008 – representing a fall of 799 recruits.

More than half of employers do not expect the employment situation to change next year.

The gloomy picture presented in today's survey also extends to salary levels – the average graduate salary remains frozen at 25,000 this year.