A shift is emerging in recruitment, with businesses looking for young people leaving school rather than university graduates, a conference was told this afternoon.
John Baker of JBC Ltd, part of a panel discussing employment and development, said all firms want bright recruits but increasingly the traditional approach to automatically opt for university leavers is changing.
Instead, many are turning to an apprenticeship model, he told the Accredited Financial Planning Firms conference in St Albans.
Mr Baker said that with the higher tuition fees that have come in in recent years and graduates coming out with about £45,000 debt young people are looking at alternatives.
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The number of undergraduates has fallen, he said.
Mr Baker said: "What's a bright young kid going to do then? Are they going to saddle themselves with this debt or are they going to go down another route?
"There's now evidence bright young kids are looking at alternatives."
He said trade areas such as aerospace have gone down the apprenticeship route for "donkey's years" but financial services has not.
Mr Baker said: "What about an alternative? Can we bring young kids with A-levels straight into this business and get them to same level of graduate over same period of time?
"Businesses are starting to do it and those are starting to see some benefits."
Bankers are talking seriously about apprentices, he said, adding: "There's a shift emerging, definitely."
