GENERAL MERCHANDISE NEWS
Retail and finance are top destinations for graduates
14 December, 2012 | by Retail Bulletin
A new report has found that the retail and finance sectors still recruit the greatest proportion of graduates into graduate-type employment, despite the problems they have faced over the past three years.
A league table of graduate recruiters compiled by The Complete University Guide found that the multiple arms of health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots topped the 100 leading recruiters of graduates with the National Health Service, the second most significant recruiter of graduates in 2011, slipping to fourth place in 2012.
The Complete University Guide’s analysis of the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey showed that, when doctors, dentists and nurses were excluded, Boots and its subsidiaries were the only organisations filling in excess of 500 graduate level jobs in both years.
Tesco was the next retailer to be placed in the list, coming in 9th position with 260 graduates.
Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of The Complete University Guide, said: “This is the first time that the recruitment pattern of graduates has been analysed in this way. It gives the clearest picture yet of the organisations that recruit graduates, and the pattern of recruitment by region.
“The data are derived from returns by graduates and the employers they have identified have not been confirmed by the employers themselves. Nevertheless we believe it is a valuable facility for young people looking for graduate level employment in extremely challenging times.”
The financial services industry accounted for seven of the top 10 recruiters, as identified by students responding to the survey. PricewaterhouseCoopers recruited the second-largest number into graduate jobs (485), with Deloitte in third place with 445.
In technology, the two highest placed companies in 2011, Accenture and IBM, both slipped slightly. Sky rose dramatically from number 87 to number 34, with 75 graduate posts filled.
The highest placed graduate employer not in the NHS or the health, finance, retail or service sectors was Jaguar Land Rover, which rose from 44th place in 2011 to 12th place, with a graduate intake of 170 in 2012. BAE Systems was the next highest manufacturing employer at number 16, just ahead of Rolls-Royce, which moved up one place to 17.
The study is restricted to employers with more than 50 employees who recruited four or more graduates. It excludes smaller companies and graduates who have launched their own businesses with fewer than four graduate recruits.
The analysis allows graduating students and applicants to see the key areas of demand for their skills nationally, by region and by sector.
Click here for the latest retail jobs on the fastest-growing jobs board Global Retail Jobs.
