This is according to the Institute of Student Employers’ (ISE) Pulse Survey 2020, released this morning, which found that employers have substantially slowed down their graduate recruitment this year, which has the worst growth rate since 2016.

Employers plan to increase their graduate vacancies by just 3% this year, which is in stark contrast to this time last year when employers were predicting 18% growth in graduate numbers or with ISE’s end of year survey when employers reported a 10% increase.

The 14% increase in graduate vacancies in the charity and public sector, however, is preventing the graduate labour market from shrinking, which is in line with recent government announcements to increase police numbers and spend in the NHS.

Similarly, employers reported they are increasing vacancies onto apprenticeships and school leaver programmes by just 2%, markedly down on last year’s report of a 7% predicted increase.

The legal sector is showing a substantial decline (14%) in the number of non-graduate entry-level hires. However, there are substantial increases in construction (11%), as well as the digital and IT sector (25%).

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