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More jobs for manufacturing graduates

Firms are planning to take on more graduates this summer, with manufacturing companies predicting the biggest increase in recruits from higher education, according to a new report.

But a study of almost 100 organisations by Incomes Data Services also showed that finance companies believe they will hire fewer graduates. The report agrees with last week’s news from Deloitte that the financial sector is cutting back on its hiring procedures due to the ‘credit crunch’.

The study predicted a 12% increase in graduate recruits this summer, lower than last year, but rising to 31% in manufacturing. IDS warned that if current financial problems spread to the rest of the economy, the present prospect of modest job growth could rapidly turn into a jobs “bust”.

Steve Tatton, the report’s editor, said: “It is evident that the graduate labour market is holding up. “But it is fragile at present and a bad turn in the economy could easily tip what currently seems to be a modest jobs boom into a jobs bust.”

The study also showed that graduate recruitment increased by over 18% last year, but the public sector was putting a brake on recruitment this year, expecting growth to be around 7%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .