UK employers are unimpressed with the quality of graduate job seekers, with many feeling that university leavers lack the skills to meet their requirements, new research has revealed.
A survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) found that nearly half of businesses questioned believed that universities weren’t equipping students with the right skills to succeed in the workplace.
Although 62 per cent of those polled said there were benefits to more people going to university, over half felt that the expansion of higher education was having an adverse effect on the quality of graduates.
Just over half of respondents said that the UK was producing too many graduates, while a similar number said that students should pay their own way through university.
The apparent lack of faith in universities to produce quality employees of the future is worrying considering the chronic lack of skills that affects many UK firms.
As reported by Startups.co.uk, there are an estimated eight million British workers who do not have the necessary education and training to satisfactorily undertake their jobs.
Although the government has attempted to tackle the problem by introducing Modern Apprenticeships and Employer Training Pilots to UK workplaces, business groups have claimed that unless ministers improve education at all levels, firms will continue to suffer from a lack of skilled employees.
The AGR said that while the survey showed that many employers were critical of higher education, the results were more positive than a couple of years ago.
