The recently published annual Graduate Labour Market and Student Engagement Survey 2016 by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) reports a healthy graduate job market in 2016, despite uncertainty around Brexit.
The AGCAS survey, completed by 94 heads of career services in UK HE, highlights that the graduate job market in 2016 was still seen as relatively buoyant compared to the previous academic year. Seven out of ten heads (70.2%) agreed that the graduate market was more buoyant in the year to 31 July 2016 compared to the year to 31 July 2015.
Nevertheless, the combined proportion of heads agreeing or strongly agreeing with this view shows a decline over the last three years and the proportion disagreeing has increased (as depicted in Figure 1).
Other findings from the AGCAS survey suggest an increase in the number of graduate vacancies compared with the previous year, with the top three increased occupational sectors reported by heads of careers services being:
- Scientists/Engineers/IT professionals
- Professionals (law, research, architecture, social work, quality, media, PR and advertising)
- Associate professionals (finance, law, business, marketing, HR)
Other notable and positive findings from the survey include the improved offering from university career services and increased engagement with businesses, particularly with small and medium-sized enterprises resulting in an increase in the provision of graduate-level opportunities.