As the economy tightens, organisations are facing growing pressure to deliver measurable outcomes across all aspects of their talent strategies, and Early Careers programmes are no exception. However, a troubling gap is emerging between ambition and execution in this critical area. 

New research from ECO and The Smarty Train has found that while 91% of Early Careers functions claim to have a clear understanding of the data and metrics needed to track their programme success, 74% admit they lack confidence in demonstrating return on investment (ROI) for their Early Careers initiatives.

The inability to demonstrate ROI extends beyond technical challenges, carrying significant strategic consequences that can hinder an organisation’s competitiveness. As organisations prepare for tightened budgets and reduced headcounts in 2025, HR and talent teams must provide clear evidence to justify continued investment in Early Careers programmes, making the ability to demonstrate ROI a powerful litmus test for Early Careers teams around the globe.

Running parallel to this, a growing emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) places additional pressure on organisations to showcase measurable progress and accountability in this area, particularly within their Early Careers initiatives.

What factors are causing the Early Careers data gap?

Missing data infrastructure:

A solid foundation of data capture and processing is essential for meaningful performance evaluation. Yet according to the 2025 Early Careers Trends Report, 60% of Early Careers functions struggle with the limitations of their existing systems. Without robust infrastructure, they are unable to access, process, or analyse the data necessary for measuring success.

Metrics like retention rates, performance, and long-term employee attrition — key indicators of Early Careers programme effectiveness — often remain out of reach due to fragmented, outdated or siloed systems. This lack of visibility and consistency creates a "blind spot", preventing functions from confidently answering the crucial ROI question posed by their senior stakeholders.

Increasing complexity and compliance:

Even when data is available, managing it effectively presents its own set of hurdles: 85% of Early Careers functions say they are wrestling with the complexities of data management. This includes capturing and accessing crucial data points like DE&I in the first place, let alone using this data to understand trends and demonstrate return across various groups.

Legal restrictions complicate the collection and analysis of sensitive demographic data, and as organisations grapple with meeting their commitments to reduce bias in Early Careers, Labour's manifesto and US affirmative action rulings could be about to usher in a new era of additional DE&I challenges for Early Careers functions.

For many organisations, these barriers hinder efforts to identify trends or assess programme outcomes for underrepresented groups, further limiting their ability to measure ROI comprehensively and make the changes needed to improve.

What are best-practice organisations doing to address Early Careers ROI?

Forward-thinking organisations are taking deliberate steps to enhance their data capabilities and embed ROI thinking into their Early Careers strategy planning for 2025. Here’s how:

• Harness the value of long-term data: Long-term data gathering provides invaluable insights that can't be gleaned from short-term snapshots. Implementing this strategy requires patience and investment in data infrastructure, but by evaluating the effectiveness of programmes and interventions over time, you can better identify areas for improvement and share progress with senior stakeholders.

“If you don't have the data points you need yet, start collecting them now. In five years, you'll be glad you did."
- Lucy Hegarty, ECO Participant and Global Head of Early Talent Recruitment, GSK

• Enhancing data capabilities: According to the 2025 ECO Trends Report, 74% of Early Careers teams acknowledge they could improve their use of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to help inform their strategy.
  
  If - like many ECO participants – your Early Careers function doesn’t yet have access to long-term data to map out where retention processes may be going wrong, then external benchmarking data is a great starting point for assessing how your retention rates stack up against organisations of a similar size. Find out how ECO can help.

Not sure where to start?

The data that informed the 2025 Early Careers Trends Report was collected from over 25 leading global organisations using TST’s Early Careers Optimiser (ECO) methodology. For more information on how ECO has helped organisations build data-driven, human-centred and DE&I-focused strategies for their Early Careers, talk to our data experts.

Early Careers attrition, while a pivotal trend, represents only part of the challenge facing Early Careers functions in 2025 and beyond. For a comprehensive understanding of all five trends shaping Early Careers download the 2025 Early Career Trends Report, which includes additional insights, case studies, and actionable recommendations.