COVID and Grads – Recruitment is on hold

Students are starting to realise they will be graduating into a global recession. According to the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), many firms have scaled down their recruitment of entry-level staff and more than a quarter of businesses are reducing the number of graduates they hire this year.

While some firms are moving assessments and interviews online, the majority have cancelled them. “Thousands of young people are supposed to be entering the labour market from July and they could be left without work and nothing to do while coronavirus is sorted out,” says Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the ISE. “We need to make sure that a whole generation isn’t lost.”

One graduate recruiter says they have already retracted offers. “Firms are being realistic and most are putting recruitment on hold. No one wants to offer an opportunity which might not be there in three months’ time.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ ‘Recruitment is on hold’: the students graduating into the Covid-19 recession | Education | The Guardian