New research from High Fliers Research reveals that despite the uncertain economic outlook, Britain’s top employers are set to recruit more graduates in 2012.

However, the report on the graduate job market published on Wednesday 11 January 2012, showed that those with work experience are more likely to be successfully recruited.

The Graduate Market in 2012 – a study of graduate vacancies and starting salaries at Britain’s 100 leading employers conducted by High Fliers Research in December 2011 shows that employers expect to hire 6.4% more graduates in 2012 than they did in 2011.

The report also warns that graduates from the ‘Class of 2012’ who have had no work experience whilst at university stand little or no chance of being successful in their recruitment by the country’s most prestigious graduate employers. The report showed that a record 36% of this year’s graduate vacancies are expected to be filled by applicants who have already worked for the organisation during their studies.

Half the employers included in the research have increased their graduate recruitment targets for 2012 and there are additional roles on offer in nine of the 14 industries and employment areas featured in the report.

On average, employers have received 19% more applications for their graduate programmes this year, with some recruiters reporting double the usual volume of applicants in the early part of their 2011-2012 recruitment campaign.

The majority of employers are not planning to increase their graduate remuneration in 2012 – the average graduate starting salary remains at £29,000 for the third year running.

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Online recruitment has apparently risen by 6 percent according to records. Limited company contractors may be finding new work opportunities online after one company said that internet recruitment has risen by six per cent over the last year.

Monster Employment Index UK found that engineering remains one of the highest-growing industries over the past year, with construction following as a close second.

Meanwhile, those looking for work in transport and logistics will be happy to hear that the sector's online recruitment grew by 21 per cent in the last year.

Michael Gentle, spokesperson for Monster UK & Ireland, said: "In light of the challenging broader economic conditions, employers unsurprisingly decided to ride out the year without having a major employment drive in December.

"However, the recruitment market is still active, with the Employment Index reaching its highest level since June and many sectors, including engineering and IT, showing a more positive picture than this time last year."

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Recruitment giant Hays is feeling the pinch as job cuts in the financial sector see a decline in profits in the recruitment industry.

Paul Venables, Finance Director for Hays, told The Independent: “It's a musical chairs business – we need someone to leave before we can replace them, and in many cases they are not.

"Fees are down mainly thanks to a weakening in the City. It's a weakening confidence, and clients making a clear decision to reduce the number of permanent staff.

"Until confidence improves, we'll see subdued demand."

Venables said this explains the seven percent decline in UK business during the last quarter of 2011.

Despite the decline in the UK, other markets have been making steady increases.

Strong growth in the Australian mining industry as well as an increase in Germany and France has seen earnings rise by 28 percent and 20 percent respectively.

This growth helped Hays post a nine percent jump in net fees towards the backend of 2011.

But even Asia saw growth slow dramatically, down from 34 per cent in the third quarter to 16 per cent in October, November and December.

Venables said: "Three months ago, banks in Asia were looking to increase their headcount aggressively but now – even there – they are being very selective about hiring.”

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The number of people who were placed into permanent jobs by UK recruitment agencies fell for a third month in a row in December.

According to the Irish Examiner, a study by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation in Britain also showed that there had been a dip in temporary and contract staff, which was the first reduction in over two years.

Also, for the first time in a year, the pay rates for temporary staff fell slightly last month; however, pay remained around the same mark for permanent staff.

The report is based on around 400 recruitment firms in the UK and it revealed that there was a large increase in the number of people seeking work.

REC chief executive Kevin Green said: "The report highlights a third month of contraction in permanent placements and a reduction in the use of temps for the first time in more than two years.

"There are clearly signs of decline but we are nowhere near the lows seen in 2009 when the market deteriorated at a drastically faster rate than we are seeing today.

"Employers are still hiring and using temps in large numbers. However, they are starting the year on a cautious note and are taking their time to make workforce decisions.

"The quicker the eurozone sovereign debt crisis is resolved and we get some economic visibility, the better it will be for employer confidence and the UK jobs market.

"Overall, the cautiousness in hiring seems to be driven by a lack of confidence in the wider economic situation than a significant downturn in demand."

KPMG, was one of the companies which helped with the report and Bernard Brown of KPMG, said: "It is a huge concern to see temporary placements falling in tandem with permanent employment opportunities, making it difficult to be optimistic about the employment market in 2012.

"The decline in temporary roles, seen for the first time in almost two-and-a-half years, is a clear indication that businesses are too nervous to even make short-term commitments, given the continued uncertainty across the eurozone and so much talk of a tough year ahead."

According to The Recruiter, insurance retailer Hastings Direct has announced that it will be creating 200 new jobs this year.

The new jobs are thanks to the continued growth from its car, home, van and bike insurance divisions and the company is also planning to start college and university leaver job schemes, although these wont begin until later in the year.

The company released a statement which said: The new positions will come “across the jobs spectrum from entry level to senior management”.

The 200 jobs created this year will be on top of the 400 new jobs that were created in 2011 when the company trebled its profits and grew by 30%.

All applicants must be aged over 18, and the firm says it is open to consider job sharing and part-time workers.

Amanda Menahem, the firm’s HR director, told The Recruiter: “As our business expands, we need to fill roles in all areas from finance to facilities, IT, marketing and our call centres.

“We are committed to growing our people and continue to invest heavily in staff development; we have doubled our leadership and development programme and will create college leaver and graduate schemes later in the year.”

High-end jobs sectors currently have a strong demand for staff, according to benefits specialist Thomsons Online Benefits. Human resources professionals have said that some employers could dial up their staff benefits in an attempt to attract new talent.

The recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) was told by a number of experts that the jobs market will continue to vary by region and sector in 2012, but the high-end sectors will show strong demand for staff.

West Midlands regional director for the Institute of Recruitment Professionals, Philip Delaloye, said that the engineering sector will see plenty of job creation.

He also mentioned that in his area, Jaguar Land Rover are currently planning to employ hundreds more staff in its Solihull site and are looking to potentially build a new engine plant in Wolverhampton, which will, in turn, create even more jobs.

The expert also looked at the aerospace industry; new technology and renewable businesses which will contribute to job creation.

"In these high-end and high-skilled sectors employers will be looking for both contract and permanent engineers. This is certainly the feedback we are getting from a number of clients in the Midlands and the south of England," Mr Delaloye told Thompsons Online Benefits.

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A software development company has urged online recruitment firms to do more to take advantage of social media and the benefits that can come from using it.

The people behind BongoMagic, which is a relationship and referral marketing tool, have warned that by failing to fully harness the power of social networking sites, recruiters are losing out on the best candidates, which will also limit the reach of their recruitment campaigns.

Online recruiters are all competing for the same candidates and are now less competitive on price due to the growing costs of SEO advertising. ‘Passive Jobseekers’ make up three-quarters of the UK working population and the BongoMagic people said that many recruiters are failing to target them.

The firm believes its software could help recruiters overcome some of these issues because it expands the target audience past the first degree of separation. Crucially, the developers say, the tool helps reach even passive candidates by tapping into other people’s social networks.

Dave Young, founder and CTO of Larosco, developers of BongoMagic, said, "Traditional online recruitment has become a static commodity unable to respond quickly to new and productive online trends."

He added, "We believe that a change is necessary, a change which encourages the entire industry to embrace the value and potential of social communication."

Geoff Newman from RecruitmentGenius.com whose company embraces social recruiting using Facebook and Twitter has recently launched a free social recruitment tool.

"Using social media can be effective but is by no means free, it requires a substantial investment in your time and energy. That’s why we felt it necessary to launch a free application to make it easier and cheaper."

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According to a new study, the business sector is recruiting more than any other industry, says The Grapevine.

Barclay Meade’s Tracking UK Recruitment report has suggested that over half of businesses in the sector are recruiting at above pre-recession levels. The actual figure is 56% which is an increase from 48% in the previous quarter.

It is also interesting that recruitment freezes in the business centre have fallen to 10%, which is the lowest of all the industry sectors.

Nigel Lynn, Managing Director at Barclay Meade, told The Grapevine: “While recruitment in many industry sectors has stagnated in recent months, the business services sector has shown greater resilience to waning business confidence.”

There are, however, fears of a double-dip recession, which have risen. Now, 33% are saying that it will be a barrier to recruitment as opposed to 23% in Q2 2011.

Lynn went on to say: “Looking forward, the wider UK economy will rely heavily on sectors demonstrating growth and resilience, and businesses services may be one of those bright spots, driving economic revival and growth.

“Either way, more still needs to be done to ensure the recruitment industry is catering for the specific needs of the business services sector and doing everything it can to support managers by delivering the right candidates for the right positions at the right time.”

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Recruiters should push to place as many candidates as they can now, to beat a predicted slow down in recruitment next quarter, according to a new report.

Recruitment firm Manpower surveyed 2,100 employers and found that only one in five of them had plans to hire more workers in the next three months.

This means jobseekers and recruiters need to move quickly to stay ahead of employers’ dampened expectations.

However there are still hundreds of thousands of jobs out there with sectors such as utilities continuing to hire.

According to the report, an East-West divide has also emerged, with employers in the East of England being the most positive about employment prospects and those in the West, Wales and Northern Ireland the most pessimistic.

Manpower’s managing director, Mark Cahill, said: “Employers have now adopted a wait-and-see approach to hiring; they are cautious about the economy and the fear of a Euro-wide contagion is weighing heavily on their minds.

“Of the sectors that are creating jobs, however, utilities is the most positive, with employers in the water, gas and electricity industries reporting hiring intentions of +13%, a rise of 2 per centage points on the previous quarter. This sector has proved particularly resilient, as the only sector demonstrating a positive outlook in every quarter throughout the downturn.

“The manufacturing sector also shows signs of optimism with employers reporting a cautiously optimistic outlook of +5%.”

“We should not lose sight of the fact that there are still hundreds of thousands of vacancies out there. Employers continue to look for skilled and motivated candidates who show a real desire and determination to work. People who are willing to learn new skills are the ones who will succeed in this challenging environment. Those with a refuse-to-lose attitude will find work.”

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According to Dan Erwin, dress down days could look set to become a thing of the past as the majority of UK workers want to dress to impress in a bid to save their jobs and win new business because of the current economic climate, according to a survey of 13,000 employees.

Dressing to create the right impression with clients, prospects and colleagues is one area where individuals can influence the outcome of the economy, according to 94% of respondents UK work wear provider Alexandra.

For more information go to Dan Erwin's website.

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