Why aren't more graduates going into SMEs when they leave college or university?

Around 500,000 new graduates are leaving UK universities and colleges up and down the country this summer. Those long years of study, never-ending nights of revision and the plethora of life-changing experiences – including gaining a place at college in the first place – are coming to an end. But, what’s next for the class of ’22?  

Employability is at the forefront of many of our minds: so much so that HEPI has dedicated a weekly blog to the topic for the last three months. The killer question that piqued HEPI’s curiosity during a recent lunch with Handshake’s UK leadership team was: how many graduates take up jobs in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?