Employability skills are the single most important consideration for 82% of businesses when recruiting graduates, followed by degree subject (68%) and relevant work experience (67%).
Levels of employer satisfaction with the employability skills of graduates are higher than for school and college leavers, but 70% of employers say that university students need to do more to prepare themselves to be effective in the workplace.
The CBI /EDI survey of 566 employers shows 42% are not satisfied with the basic use of English by school and college leavers, while more than a third (35%) are concerned with the basic numeracy skills in this age group. To address the weaknesses in basic skills, almost half (44%) of employers have had to invest in remedial training for school and college leavers. The survey shows that young people are not in a position to make informed choices about their future career because of inadequate advice in schools and colleges.
Only 6% of businesses are confident that advice is good enough, while 64% think advice must improve. There is an appetite among employers to play a greater role in delivering careers advice, with 54% willing to do more, rising to 66% of large firms. Companies also found school and college leavers lacking in important employability skills, with 69% saying they have inadequate business and customer awareness, and over half (55%) experiencing weaknesses in school leavers' self-management skills.
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