Sainsbury’s has announced it is to increase its graduate intake by 30 per cent to 85 places in 2010, up from 65 this year.
Elsewhere, discount retailer Aldi will also increase placements from 90 to 120, while Tesco is keeping graduate numbers roughly the same at 200, but still defies the wider employment market trend for scaling down on graduate programmes.
Sainsbury's has confirmed that it is receiving more applications from recent graduates than ever before and said the retail sector was “more attractive than ever” for students.
The number of spaces available on the company's two placement schemes, which are either a year long or three months over the summer, has tripled to 64.
Sainsbury’s operates 13 different schemes on its graduate programme, covering areas such as merchandising, human resources and buying. Retail is the largest and gives candidates the opportunity to become a deputy store manager in just two years.
