Northern graduates most ‘dissatisfied’ at recruitment initiatives

UNIVERSITY graduates across Yorkshire are among the most dissatisfied over efforts helping them get their first job.

According to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), respondents in Yorkshire, the North West, Scotland and Northern Ireland reported between 45% to 51% dissatisfaction at schemes and initiatives being offered by the Government, schools, universities and employers.

Overall, 67% blamed a lack of funding for graduate prospects in the recession with the figure rising to 74% in the North East.

More than half (59%) of 18 to 34-year-olds said blamed employers’ short-termism in recruitment strategies for the situation.

Andrew Bargery, Northern student recruitment manager for PwC, said: “With the statistics of youth unemployment today, it’s all too easy to point the finger of blame.

“The reality is there is no one, quick fix. The only way we can secure the long term skills of this generation is to get students, employers, and government agencies working together.”

He said that recessions demanded a different mindset among jobseekers and that students needed to do everything they could to seek out opportunities including being mobile, honest and accurate in applications.

However, he added that employers too needed to sustain their recruitment programmes where possible, or be transparent about recruitment plans when they were doing deals with applicants.

“Stakeholder groups need to work together and take on board contributions from employers at the coal face of the recession, like the way employers like PwC work with the Graduate Employer Forum, alongside the Graduate Talent Pool,” said Mr Bargery.

“The future economic prosperity is in the hands of this generation, so rather than blame each other for how we got here, we need to look ahead and work out how to minimise the long term effects.”