Strong demand for graduates but employers struggle to fill graduate and equivalent level roles

The vast majority of employers (81%) want to see the current number of graduates sustained or increased, according to new polling published today by Universities UK (UUK).

The survey of 500 employers across the UK, carried out by Public First for UUK, also found that the vast majority of employers (87%) think that graduates have some, or all, of the skills they would expect overall. Government analysis shows that five of its ten priority sectors have a high reliance on advanced skills, suggesting that demand for graduates will continue.

For example, 73% of roles in financial services require highly skilled workers, 71% of the workforce in creative industries hold degree level or equivalent qualifications and 69% of roles in pharmaceuticals have degree level qualifications. Two-thirds of the approximately 900,000 jobs in priority occupations anticipated by 2030 will require higher-level skills.

However, the survey also found that employers say graduate-level roles are the hardest to fill even as graduates report growing difficulties finding highly skilled employment. Nearly half (47%) of employers with vacancies were consistently struggling to fill graduate or equivalent level roles, a higher proportion than other types of roles.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Malcolm Press CBE, President of Universities UK, said:

“Employers clearly value what graduates bring and want to see more of them. Where we need to go further, is in making these connections work better, so graduates can move more quickly into the opportunities that exist. Universities and employers working together can make this happen. We’ll share more ideas for how to do this when we publish our Future Jobs Roadmap in July”.

As the UK birth rate falls to a record low, combined with falling immigration, the challenge faced by employers in finding graduate talent is likely to grow. Better join-up between employers and universities to inform the way that prospective students make choices about what to study, and measures to involve employers in offering work placements to students could help bridge the gap between those looking for work, and the skills employers struggle to find.

UUK’s research also suggests that employers increasingly want universities and businesses to work more closely together to prepare students for rapidly changing workplaces. More than half of employers (52%) said graduates require more development than they had anticipated, while 71% said that improved work-readiness skills among graduate applicants would make them more likely to recruit graduates.

The polling also highlights strong employer appetite for closer collaboration with universities. Seven in ten employers (70%) said they would be more likely to recruit graduates if mandatory work experience was included as part of their courses, while many also felt that stronger partnerships between universities, employers and civic leaders to help address regional skills needs would also make them more likely to recruit graduates into their organisations.

The findings come as universities across the UK have been working with employers through UUK’s national ‘Future Jobs’ initiative to better understand how graduate skills and employment pathways need to evolve in response to economic and technological change.

This summer, UUK will publish a ‘Future Jobs Roadmap’ setting out actions universities can take, in partnership with employers, to improve graduate outcomes and help businesses access the skills they need.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Employers said the skills it is easiest to find graduates with are the ability to adapt to workplace norms (65%), verbal communication and presentation skills (63%), and teamwork and collaboration skills (62%)
• Almost half of employers (48%) said the pace and uncertainty of technological change had enabled them to recruit graduate staff, compared to 12% who said it had constrained them
• Most employers said they wanted to maintain or increase the number of people going to university to meet future skills needs, with only 15% believing fewer people should attend university