Majority of Employers in Australia Highly Satisfied With the Performance of New Graduate Hires

Despite challenges in the labor market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of employers in Australia rated higher education graduates highly in 2022. According to results from the Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS), employer overall satisfaction with the performance of new graduate hires stood at 84.1 percent last year.

Nonetheless, supervisors’ overall satisfaction with new graduates dropped slightly by 1.4 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, when the overall level of satisfaction among employers was 85.3 percent, Erudera.com reports.

The survey conducted by Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) and funded by the Australian Department of Education showed that most employers in the country are satisfied with the foundation skills of recent graduates from Australian higher education institutions. In 2022, employers’ overall satisfaction with foundation skills of graduate employees was 93.0 percent.

A significant percentage of employers said they were satisfied with the technical skills of their graduate employees as well, with the level of satisfaction reaching 92.7 percent. Similarly, the same reported high satisfaction with graduates’ adaptability, 90.1 percent.

Employers also reported high levels of satisfaction with the following attributes of employed graduates:

• 86.8 percent satisfaction with employability skills
• 88.2 percent satisfaction with collaborative skills - teamwork and interpersonal skills

“Employer satisfaction with the Employability skills attribute increased slightly between 2021 and 2022, by 0.2 percentage points. Within the limitations of the survey, employer satisfaction can on the whole, be said to be stable in 2022,” the report pointed out.

Overall, employers were most satisfied with engineering and technology graduates, at 90.2 percent, with information technology graduates, at 86.5 percent and with education graduates, at 85.6 percent.

Employer satisfaction by broad field of education:

• Agriculture and environmental - 92.2 percent
• Health - 83.4 percent
• Society and Culture - 84.2 percent
• Natural and Physical Sciences - 82.3 percent
• Management and Commerce - 81.5 percent
• Architecture and Building - 79.3 percent
• Creative arts graduates - 79.1 percent

Commenting on the survey findings, Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said that the results strengthen the vital role that universities play in the education of highly skilled employees in all sectors of the economy.

She said that workers holding university degrees grow the economy for $185 billion more than it would be, reiterating that more jobs will require a university degree in the future.

“Our universities do a magnificent job of ensuring graduates have the knowledge and skills to hit the ground running in their chosen profession, not only for their own benefit but the nation’s as well,” Jackson said.

Jackson added that these findings also show that graduates from Australian higher education institutions are joining the labor market with a set of skills to have an immediate impact, including in the skill shortage occupations.

>> These Are the Programs That Int’l Students in Australia Should Study to Be Eligible for Extended Post-Study Work Rights

The 2022 ESS is the largest survey of its kind, focusing on the views of 3,452 Australian employers about the qualities of individuals graduating from the country’s universities and non-university higher education institutions (NUHEIs).