Graduate salaries are finally set to rise after SEVEN years

Well it’s about bloody time


Graduate salaries are expected to rise this year for the first time since 2015 – after the country’s biggest employers recently boosted pay.

The average salary for grads has been set at £30,000 since 2015. This year however, the UK’s 100 most popular employers are expected to raise it to £32,000, according to a report from research firm High Flier.

The £2,000 bump is the highest increase since 2010, when salaries rose from £27,000 to £29,000.

Not only that, but the number of grad jobs up for grabs are increasing by 16 per cent to more than 28,000 – representing the largest annual rise in recruitment for more than 15 years. Accounting and professional services firms will be the biggest recruiters of new graduates, the report said, with a record 7,400 vacancies.

Grads getting the highest salaries were focused in the financial services industry – with investment banks and law firms paying £50,000 on average.

After university-leavers in 2020 faced a difficult job market, with a 12 per cent drop in entry-level hires, the class of 2022 are set to do much better. The number of vacancies this year is 11 per cent higher than the peak, recorded in 2019.

Martin Birchall, of High Fliers, said that this was a huge positive for final year students, many of whom had only experienced one term of “normal life on campus” before the pandemic hit and disrupted their university experience.

“While nothing can compensate for this, it is welcome news that the ‘Class of 2022’ can look forward to a buoyant graduate job market when they leave university,” he added.

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