What do UK small and medium sized enterprises think about employing graduates?

Abstract

PurposeThe UK government is committed to increasing the proportion of young people entering higher education. This means that graduates will make up a greater proportion of the labour market. To some extent, this applies to all businesses, but will particularly affect small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), that have traditionally employed a lower proportion of graduates. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to help universities understand better what they could do to both prepare their graduates for jobs in small firms and to help them communicate better with small firms.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical findings are based on a telephone questionnaire survey of SMEs (n=396), drawn from a range of sectors.FindingsThe findings indicate that, dependent on: the size of the firm, the proportion of graduates currently employed, the sector that the firm is in, its location and the role played in the organisation by the respondent, the firm's attitude towards employing graduates can be explained reasonably well. Overall, while nearly 60 per cent of respondents reported that their firm needed graduates, only 22 per cent felt that the graduates they had seen were well prepared for the world of work.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited on account of the difficulty of obtaining a representative sample of SMEs across all sectors and geographical areas. The main implication is that universities need to work much harder in convincing smaller firms with a low percentage of graduates already working to take on graduates, especially when the owner‐manager is the key decision maker with respect to the employment decision. Further, universities in the London area have a much more difficult job in building relations with firms than those in other locations.Originality/valueThe main value of the paper is in opening a window on what SME employers think about employing graduates.