How leading employers are standing out from the contemporary crowd

As entry-level jobs seemingly shrink, employers are being urged to consider a traditional recruitment method to prepare their workforces for the future.

Graduate programs are not going out of style, according to recent research from the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE).

Findings from The Future of Early Careers revealed that almost 50 per cent of employers recruit graduates as part of strategic workforce planning and that these businesses are able to better identify and develop emerging talent, build organisation-specific skills, and enhance security for both employer and employee.

The report found strong program support among candidates, with 50 per cent agreeing career progression is among the top three factors they look for in a graduate program, 41 per cent and 35 per cent prioritising the quality of training and company culture, respectively, and 86 per cent of graduates within the AAGE’s Top 15 Employers rate their role-related technical training highly.

Further, 92 per cent of employers pair graduates with a buddy, and 70 per cent allocate a formal mentor.

As noted by AAGE chief executive Shanan Green, graduate programs play an important role in the world of AI.

“Where AI is augmenting or replacing the tasks that were routinely part of early entry positions, employers need to be more deliberate about how graduates build the skills, judgement and organisational understanding that were once acquired through those tasks,” she said.

Green also noted that early-career programs are increasingly agile, with more than 70 per cent of employers offering a combination of professional and technical skills training for up to four weeks during a graduate’s first year.

“When that formal development is supported by purposeful rotations, buddies, structured feedback and on-the-job learning, graduates can build the adaptable human, professional and technical capabilities they will need for the future,” she said.

“They are also teaching graduates to use AI responsibly, knowing when to rely on it, how to test its outputs, and when human judgement, context and empathy is needed.

“Workforce development has therefore evolved to investing in building professionals who can work productively alongside technology while still developing the human capabilities on which trust and sound decisions depend.”

In this way, the most valuable graduate programs are those that combine professional, digital and human capability.

As revealed in AAGE’s 2026 Employer Survey, communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills rank highest as the most consistently valued skills in recruitment, as well as problem solving and an aptitude for learning.

While Green acknowledged the importance of AI literacy, she explained that requirements more broadly focus on the ability to learn quickly, exercise judgement, and collaborate effectively, all of which are developed through “meaningful work, rotations, formal learning and sustained support”.

Further, she explained that graduate programs are finding increasing success by commencing as internship or work placement opportunities that then transition into more permanent early-level positions, again creating a dependable and knowledgeable staff base.

As such, Green said graduate programs remain one of the best forms of future preparation.

“Employers should look carefully at the experience they create at every stage of the early careers journey, from candidate care through to access to meaningful work … combining the fundamentals of a best practice program, with the adaptability to respond to the changing nature of work will ensure continued strong outcomes for employers and future graduates,” she said.

“The graduates entering organisations today will become Australia’s future specialists, innovators and leaders. Strong graduate programs are an investment not only in emerging talent, but the workforce Australia will rely on in the years ahead.”

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