Financial firms must change approach to graduate recruitment

Financial firms need to shake up their strategy for attracting and retaining the best graduates says new PwC report.

A new study from PwC indicates that financial services firms need to adapt their recruitment strategies to retain the best talent in their business with a ‘significant gap’ between what graduates expect from their graduate job and the job itself.

The study found that 55% of graduates had compromised on their job choices due to the economic downturn in the UK and globally indicating that as the job market improves many financial service firms may find it difficult to retain talent with graduates open to new opportunities with only 10% indicating that they were satisfied with their current role in the long term.

Jon Terry, a partner at PwC said; ‘Financial services companies are already finding it hard to keep younger workers and this is likely to become even tougher as the job market starts to improve. This generation of graduates demand a different approach to recruitment, retention, management and development, which organisations simply can’t afford to ignore. If companies fail to invest in trying to understand what drives this group, they face the real risk of losing large numbers of them to other companies when the job market picks up.

“Carrying on with the same approach to recruitment and retention is no longer an option. Millennials want more than ‘just a job’. They expect a varied and interesting career, constant feedback and the opportunity to progress quickly. Their high expectations mean that companies might find it harder than ever to keep their best talent if they don’t adapt their approaches to their development appropriately.'

Source: Pareto.co.uk, Wednesday 9th May 2012