BY THE WATER COOLER
a letter from...
South Africa Cathy Sims
Executive Director for South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA)
...Nearly three-quarters of employers expect to increase graduate salaries in 2018, while a fifth were still to set their salaries by the time the survey took place.
R
ecruitment amongst South Africa’s leading graduate employers is cautiously optimistic, while competition for the highest-calibre candidates remains intense.
Results from an independent survey of leading employers in South Africa shows that these organisations are set to recruit record numbers of graduates in 2017 & 2018. The South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA) Employer Benchmark Survey 2017 is based on responses from 99 of the leading graduate employers in the country. It provides encouraging news for students looking for their first job upon graduation.
Competition for the very best candidates remains extremely high. The SAGEA Candidate Insights Survey 2017 – an online questionnaire with 1,960 new or future employees – showed that while candidates made an average of six or seven applications, three-fifths had secured multiple job offers. While most employers received in excess of 1,700 applications, many said there was a shortage of candidates with the right skills and qualifications.
Nearly three-quarters of employers expect to increase graduate salaries in 2018, while a fifth were still to set their salaries by the time the survey took place. Employers
continue to look for engaging ways to interact with students to create a useful dialogue and help them to understand all of the opportunities on offer. Recruiters were very active on campus – hosting events and attending careers fairs – and were also present on social networking sites and hosted their own websites.
Highlights from The SAGEA Employer Benchmark Survey 2017 include: • Just over two-fifths of employers said their primary purpose for engaging in graduate recruitment was to hire candidates onto a leadership development programme.
• Graduate vacancies are set to increase by 5.3 per cent in 2018, compared to the numbers recruited in 2017.
• Employers plan to increase vacancies in 13 of 15 industries that are tracked in the survey.
• The accounting and professional services firms were the largest recruiters, with a third of the vacancies in 2017. Retailers, investment banks or fund managers and commercial or retail banks were also major recruiters this year.
• By job function, the most vacancies were found in audit (TIPP), which accounted for nearly a third of total vacancies available in 2017.
Highlights from The SAGEA Candidate Insights Survey 2017 include: • The most likely destination for candidates was auditing (TIPP).
• The five universities with the highest attendance levels accounted for more than three-fifths of participants.
• 30 per cent had worked with their new employer prior to joining as a graduate.
Most of this experience was gained via vacation work.
• More than three-fifths of candidates confirmed they started researching graduate employers prior to their final year of university.
• Some 88 per cent want to work overseas at some point in the future, although most recognised it is most likely to occur in 2019 or beyond.
Graduate vacancies are set to increase by
5.3%
in 2018, compared to the numbers recruited in 2017
South Africa’s leading graduate employers are cautiously optimistic moving into 2018. They plan to increase the number of graduate vacancies on offer which shows a real commitment from recruiters to attract and retain the very best in early talent. Graduates play a key role in the talent management strategy for employers and while there is a planned increase in graduate positions, the competition for the very best candidates remains as high as ever. We anticipate employers will seek to engage in meaningful dialogue with prospective job hunters, via activities such as careers fairs and campus events, while also looking to connect online with students via graduate websites and social media. The very best graduates often have multiple job offers from which to choose, so employers will be working hard to help ensure candidates feel connected to both the role and the organisation.
TheStudentEmployer
ise.org.uk 43
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