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Graduate jobs on the increase, expert says

Graduates jobs are on the rise now that companies are lifting recruitment freezes put in place to help them survive the recession, an expert has said.

Following the latest employment trends survey by the Confederation of British Industry and Harvey Nash, which revealed that only six per cent of companies have frozen graduate recruitment this year compared with 38 per cent last year, the chief executive officer of Graduate Prospects Mike Hill reported a notable increase in job advertisements aimed at this demographic.

Mr Hill said there were more adverts for graduate vacancies posted with Prospects last week than in the whole of May 2009.

Although demand for degree-holders has increased, the market will still be difficult for university leavers, the recruitment professional warned.

"It will remain competitive for the next few years as there is a backlog of people who didn't find jobs and maybe went into post-graduate education," he explained.

According to Mr Hill, the sectors currently taking on the most university leavers are finance, retail, consultancy and engineering, while the construction industry has remained quiet.