Graduate vacancies are set to increase this year. However, 2010’s graduates will face stiff competition from their 2009 counterparts, according to new research from market research firm High Fliers.

The research shows that:

• firms expect to recruit 11.8% more graduates this year than in 2009
• half of employers are in the process of stepping up 2010 graduate recruitment targets
• more than 40% of graduate applications have come from 2009 graduates as opposed the current undergraduates
• the average graduate starting salary of £27,000 is expected to remain unchanged.

Managing director of High Fliers Research, Martin Birchall, says: “After two years of swinging cuts in graduate recruitment, it’s very encouraging that Britain’s best-known and most sought-after employers are stepping up their entry-level vacancies for 2010.

“But students leaving university this summer will be disappointed to find that many of these new positions have already been filled by graduates from the ‘Class of 2009’ who had job offers postponed last year.

“Competition for the remaining vacancies is therefore likely to remain extremely tough and there is widespread concern on campus that this year’s graduate recruitment is shaping up to be just as difficult as in 2009. For those who have yet to begin job hunting, the chance of landing a place on a graduate programme in 2010 is looking increasingly slim.”