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Report: The Hidden Costs of Onboarding Graduate Talent

Written by: John Carson
Published on: Nov 30, 2021

smiling engineer taking notes in control room
Photo credit: Viktor Gladkov/Shutterstock

President Joe Biden recently signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law and this five-year, $1.2 trillion infrastructure package marks the country’s largest investment in infrastructure in nearly a century.

The investment has the potential to transform the way Americans live and, by extension, the civil engineering profession.

This, in turn, will lead to an anticipated demand in the industry for new talent to handle the upcoming civil engineering projects. Demand for the best people will be high and competition fierce.

A new report published by mthree titled "The Hidden Costs of Onboarding Graduate Talent" highlights research that shows recruiting graduate talent is essential for the future success of many organizations ... however, it can be one of the most difficult to get right. With many of the costs hidden, business leaders are unaware of the huge costs incurred when bringing in emerging talent.

Jobseekers will find value in the data and gain insights into how employers approach hiring new graduates and young talent in the industry.

As an employer, this report outlines a number of actions that you can take to improve the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and success of your graduate recruitment.

Mthree surveyed 500 business leaders and 1,000 young workers to uncover the true cost of recruiting and onboarding graduate talent. The report then outlines practical steps to help increase the efficiency of hiring while improving the candidate experience.

Some key findings:

  • The most prevalent recruitment method is listing adverts via online job boards (used by 61% of businesses), followed by posting paid and organic social media posts (42% and 44% respectively).
  • 6 candidates are interviewed on average for one entry level/grad position.
  • Graduates often need a little extra help to get up to speed in their role. This includes both structured and ‘on the job’ training. 
  • 50% of young workers say that culture is the most important factor when deciding whether to accept a new job.
  • 36% of businesses have seen productivity fall due to needing to constantly devote resources to recruitment and training, making this the most commonly cited problem. More than a quarter (29%) have had to turn away work due to internal talent shortages, 21% said that their cash flow has been damaged, while 22% have been unable to expand.

Click here to download the free report.

Mthree is an emerging talent and reskill training partner for public and private organizations across the globe.