Graduate job vacancies to rise at top engineering and IT employers in 2012

Graduate scheme vacancies and starting salaries at leading engineering and IT employers are predicted to rise for the 2011–2012 recruitment season. That’s according to the AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2012, which surveyed 214 ‘blue-chip’ graduate employers across a number of business sectors, including Microsoft, Mott MacDonald, E.ON, and Logica.

Comparing predicted graduate vacancies for the 2011–2012 recruitment season with figures for 2010–2011:

  • IT/telecoms recruiters expected a 32.5% rise
  • energy, water and utilities companies predicted a 16.0% rise
  • organisations defining themselves as ‘engineering or industrial’ expected a 10.0% increase
  • fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies forecast a 6.4% boost in numbers.

What’s more, 50.0% of energy, water and utilities companies surveyed revealed that they had not managed to recruit their target number of graduates in 2010–2011. One engineering recruiter commented that the predicted rise in vacancies could be explained by optimism about the nuclear power and renewable energy sectors, adding that ‘the lights will start going out’ if progress is not made in these areas.

Graduate starting salaries

FMCG companies forecast the largest rise in graduate starting salaries for 2011–2012 (as compared with 2010–2011), at 4.9%. Engineering and industrial employers predicted a 4.2% rise; IT/telecoms organisations predicted 3.8%; and energy, water and utilities companies predicted 2.0%.

For graduates recruited in 2010–2011, the average starting salary among IT/telecoms employers who responded to the survey was £26,000; at FMCG companies it was £25,750; at energy, water and utilities companies it was £25,000; and at engineering and industrial companies the figure was £24,000. However, students should remember that these figures are for AGR member companies, which are typically the largest, best paying organisations in each business sector.

The outlook for energy, IT and FMCG jobs

The predicted rise in vacancies in the energy sector, in particular, is unsurprising given the continued focus on meeting the UK’s energy needs, and initiatives such as the new nuclear build programme, which was given the go-ahead in October.

The positive forecasts in the FMCG sector tie in with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF)’s November announcement that it will need 45,000 new managerial and professional workers by 2017, and Nestlé’s announcement that it is to double its graduate recruitment. Meanwhile, the predictions for the IT and telecoms sector are in line with the most recent KPMG/REC Report on Jobs, which named the IT and technology sectors among those remaining strong.

Posted by Liz_TARGETjobs on 26 January 2012

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