Graduate Employment in SMEs in Wales, Future Skills Wales
We were commissioned by Future Skills Wales to undertake research on Graduate Employment in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Wales. The study involved undertaking a series of 15 case study interviews with SMEs that have employed graduates over the last 4 years and their graduate employees. The case studies covered the SME experience of employing graduates, the benefits employing a graduate has had for them and how this may have altered their perceptions of graduates as potential employees and any change in recruitment practices that have resulted from this. Graduate perceptions of employment within an SME and the current approach to encouraging graduate’s to consider Welsh SMEs as a career option were also explored.
A report of the case studies and key thematic findings was produced to the complete satisfaction of the client.
“Please pass on a big thank you from thesteering group and the FSW Partnership to
all those who worked on the project. We're very happy with the way the project has
run and with the quality of the output produced”.
The report has stimulated further interest from the Welsh Assembly Government into the issues related to graduate employment. The report provided recommendations developed in order to illustrate:
- How good practice in recruiting and retaining graduates can be captured
- The key benefits of graduate employment identified by SMEs
- The key benefits of employment in an SME identified by graduates
- How these key benefits can be best ‘sold’ to SMEs and graduates
A seminar is planned to disseminate the findings within the Welsh Assembly Government, with employers and graduates invited to provide their own experiences first hand.
Sheffield