Growth in graduate recruitment has slowed while the number of apprenticeship vacancies has soared, new research suggests.

A survey of large employers by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) found that the number of apprenticeship opportunities offered by these firms has increased by 24 per cent year-on-year, while graduate vacancies grew by just 2 per cent.

This marks a slowdown in graduate positions compared with last year, when employers in the survey increased their intake of university leavers by 13 per cent.

The number of internship vacancies rose by 8 per cent year-on-year.

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However, the survey of 86 UK businesses showed that graduates still make up the vast majority of post-study recruitment.

This year, the firms were looking to fill more than 14,000 graduate positions, plus 5,000 internships and 3,000 apprenticeships.

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Stephen Isherwood, the chief executive of the AGR, said that apprenticeship recruitment was expanding ¡°on a much larger scale than we¡¯d anticipated¡±.

¡°We don¡¯t know what the long-term effects will be, but this isn¡¯t a case of employers¡¯ cannibalising their graduate schemes,¡± Mr Isherwood said. ¡°We¡¯re hearing that businesses view the two groups very separately and that they are complementary.

¡°Employers are engaging earlier and opening their doors to a wider group of people by presenting alternative options.¡±??

This year¡¯s apprenticeship vacancies represent 1 per cent of AGR members¡¯ workforce, on average, compared with about 2 per cent for graduates.

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The survey found that half of the 22,000 roles in the survey were yet to be filled, with IT, law and financial management proving particularly hard to recruit into.

¡°It¡¯s a candidate¡¯s market at the moment, and employers are finding it increasingly difficult to fill roles,¡± Mr Isherwood added. ¡°We¡¯re seeing nearly one in ten offers reneged as candidates pull out at the last minute for alternative positions.¡±

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com