It's hard to get your head around the economy and what impact it might have on grad recruitment later this year, in to next year and beyond.
We have access to a survey of graduate employers and wanted to share the details (these are from some of the BIGGEST programs around Australia). But it's also important to note that not all jobs come from big graduate employment programs so it's important to keep your eyes peeled to the local market.
Back to the data from some of Australia's largest employers:
Q: Are companies still accepting applications for 2021 Graduate Programs?
Firstly we need to note that many of hte big graduate programs are usually open between February and April of 2020 and would have closed by now. BUT one positive of COVID-19 has been that many organisations have extended their vacancy closing dates by 14-28 days in some cases! Here are the overall replies to the survey
- 45.45% Yes, we are open (some extending applications)
- 27.27% Yes, we were open but have now closed with usual timing
- 21.82% are opening later in the year
- 3.67% are unsure
- 1.82% cancelled their graduate recruitment for 2021 as a result of COVID-19
- other
So, with lots of prgrams open - how many graudates are these employers actually recruiting?
Q: Vacancy numbers for the 2021 graudate intake changed compared to the previous year?
Our employer network has responded based on their graduate intake. This is across lots of different industries but the outlook for gradautes at this time is still positive overall. Here are the replies to the survey
- 23.21% No change - we're recruiting the same numbers
- 26.79% Increased - we're increasing our recruitment numbers for 2021 (this is anywhere between a 10% and 50% lift on the number of graduates they recruited the year before)
- 26.79% Unsure - we're not sure about numbers right now but we're still recruiting and will see what the business needs when it's time to make offers
- 3.57% Postponed - we've paused our hiring for now and will look at it later in the year
- 16.07% Reduced hiring numbers for this year (but still hiring)
- 3.57% other
Q: Where can we look for graduate opportuniteis?
By the time you read this in May, some of these programs in the 'yes' pile above may have closed but opportunities are still available for big programs with lots of listings on CareerHub, GradAustralia and GradConnection Calendar. And don't forget to check out the South Australian Jobs Hub that helps you find advertised vacancies during COVID-19.
Remember what we said above - that not all jobs come from big graduate employment programs so it's important to keep your eyes peeled to the local market and to keep checking. Different industries and companies hire year-round as the need arises so checking once isn't enough!
Q: What is the Job Outlook for my industry
While some of this is unknown (we've seen a boom in some fields locally in SA and a glut in others, there is information to help students, parents, education/training providers and job seekers on the Department of Education, Skills and Employment's website. Some of this is all still to 'come out in the wash' and because it is always evolving, it's important for you to keep developing your skills and continue to understand your skills and how you can develop and align them to future fields. For specific COVID-19 related opportunities see this site from Skills Match with the Job Outlook site.
