Driving New Success: Strategies in graduate recruitment is based on a global survey of almost 4,000 employers across a range of sectors. It also suggests that one-quarter of graduates leave their first workplace within one year of joining.
The paper also claims there is a disconnect between companies' attraction strategies and qualities the candidates value in organisations. Half of graduates choose employers based on brand and reputation, yet companies only spend 5% of their recruitment budget in this area.
Subsequently, despite 129 million students graduating globally each year, 87% of employers from across the world still report having unfilled graduate positions.
CEB chief science and analytics officer Eugene Burke warned that the current graduate market is stuck in a "vicious circle".
"Today's graduates want to understand what opportunities there are to develop and grow, demonstrate the talents they have and progress in the organisation," he said. "Many firms simply lack clear intelligence on their graduate talent to know what is going to make them stay and be high-performing employees."
Burke added that employers must act or they will continue to see a disappointing return on their graduate recruitment strategies.
“Organisations and the recruitment industry have a simple choice: carry on with the same old practices that do not work yet expect things to change, or adopt a more intelligent model that will drive a stronger return and build a more effective brand as the graduate employer of choice," he warned.
