Number of graduate job set to shrink in 2012 Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the AGR, said: "Employers predict two-year degrees will prove popular with students. However, employers do value graduates who have work experience, and those students that have undertaken a year in industry as part of a four-year degree. In brighter news, however, the average starting salary for graduates is predicted to increase by 4pc to £26,000 this year, after an "unprecedented period of stagnation." Starting wages have been stuck at £25,000 since 2009. The expected rise this year is the largest since 2005, when salaries increased by 7pc, the study of 214 graduate employers found. Mr Gilleard said the wage increase was "significant," which coupled with only a modest fall in job vacancies, was a "relief" for the graduate jobs market amid economic uncertainty. In further evidence that the two-year degree programmes may not command respect, half of the employers surveyed said they had not heard of them. Universities including Northampton, Plymouth, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire and the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge already offer two-year degrees, with more institutions following suit as the tuition fees rise kicks in this year.