Top firms dish out £55k pay deals for graduates

BRITAIN’s leading employers plan to expand graduate recruitment this year and offer starting sala-ries of up to £ 55,000 – despite doom-mongering brexit forecasts.

bosses are increasing their vacancies for university leav-ers by 4.3 per cent, with extra jobs available in the public sector, at high street and online retailers and with engi-neering companies.

The positive outlook come despite warnings that a vote to leave the eu would dam-age the economy and lead to widespread job losses.

only eight out of 100 leading graduate employers surveyed by high Fliers research said they would reduce their recruitment targets ‘because of the uncertainty following the brexit vote’.

The findings come ahead of Theresa May’s key speech tomorrow, when she is expected to make clear she is willing to sacrifice the UK’s membership of the single mar-ket and customs union to bring an end to freedom of movement. They were revealed

‘An excellent option’

in The graduate Market in 2017 report, a study, con-ducted last month, of gradu-ate vacancies and starting sal-aries at organisations named by students as the country’s top 100 graduate employers.

The study found that employers in six out of 13 key industries expect to take on more graduates than last year. These are retailing; the public sector; oil and energy; law; IT and telecommunications; engineering and industrial.

With graduate recruitment set to rise for the fifth year running, 13 firms are offering starting salaries of between £45,000 and £55,000. one in six entry-level jobs at the top employers now have initial salaries of £40,000 or more.

universities minister Jo Johnson said: ‘The fact that our country’s top employers are offering more graduate jobs is a clear sign that the UK’s higher education sector continues to be an excellent option for people looking to secure a rewarding career.’