At Fusion, we like to push the boundaries of innovation and we’re committed to expanding our knowledge and exploring global trends that are relevant (or thought-provoking) here in Australia. Over the years we have consistently witnessed the latest trends in the US, UK and Canadian markets and most recently our Director, David Cvetkovski, returned from being a guest at the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) conference in Brighton, UK.
Considering this we thought it timely to review and share with you some of the areas that Australian Graduate Program Managers should be aware of and thinking about.
We will be integrating the following topics into our upcoming social media releases and 2017 Masterclass for further exploration and discussion so don’t miss out, stay tuned and start thinking about the future of graduate recruitment in Australia.
Emerging Trends in the graduate space: New entrants; timing of recruitment campaigns; and iGen renege on offers.
The start of 2017 has seen a steady start to graduate intakes in Australia with the traditional consulting firms, banks and regular players who take on 20 or more graduates doing their usual thing.
However, the landscape is changing with many new-entrant employers in the graduate space.
Despite their intake sizes being less than 20 graduates, these smaller graduate programs are having significant impact due to the boutique nature of their exciting and nimble propositions. An estimate of such organisations would position them at somewhere close to 50% of the total graduate intake market and therefore their impact cannot be ignored. These organisations may be small in stature but they’re also nimble enough to provide a compelling graduate value proposition (GVP) with sophisticated, innovative recruitment and development pipelines that effectively sway the opinion of graduates in their favour.
“35% of the graduate employers opening applications in the second half of the year”
Also having an impact is, what we estimate to be, 35% of the graduate employers opening applications in the second half of the year, outside of the traditional campaign time, and doing their recruitment rounds with great success.
So, what does it all mean?
The Australian graduate industry is experiencing the highest industry offer-decline rates we’ve ever seen with some organisations having over 50% of their offers rejected. Another growing problem is candidates accepting an offer only to renege on the agreement later in the year when they are offered something more appealing from another employer.
Warning:
- Competition is fierce
- It’s a graduates’ market once again, get used to rejection!
- Organisations who lack depth in their GVP, especially in early engagement, keep warm and development strategies will be exposed!
Times have changed, it’s a candidate’s market again and we are now dealing with millennials; the iGen. It’s not uncommon for them to think it’s ok to accept multiple offers, keeping their options open for as long as possible. Some may NOT even advise you that they have accepted an offer elsewhere. This could mean that they may simply not show up on day one, preferring instead to go with another employer. Recent statistics coming out of the UK have highlighted that this is a massive issue. Some renege figures are even hitting the 70% mark. If you need further information or would like to discuss any if the concepts and relevance to your program please contact us.