Spotlight Online for Employment and Recruiting Professionals, April 14, 2010

Spotlight Online for Career Services Professionals, April 14, 2010

NACE’s Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update  report shows employers plan to hire 5.3 percent more new college graduates in 2009-10 than they did in 2008-09.

That’s the first positive news since October 2008—when employers projected a 1.3 percent increase in college hiring. That projection fell in the fall of 2008, when the stock market and economy plummeted. College hiring has been in negative territory ever since, hitting bottom in the Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update, when employers reported hiring nearly 22 percent fewer graduates than they did in 2008. (See Chart 1.)

Other highlights from the survey include:

• Hiring is up in nearly all reporting industries.
• By region, the Northeast has the best hiring outlook—a 25.5 percent increase is projected. The Southeast is the only region reporting a decrease (10 percent).
• Nearly 80 percent of responding employers say their spring recruiting plans call for them to hire for full-time and/or internship positions.
• Nearly 60 percent of respondents have plans to hire more or the same number of new college graduates in Fall 2010 as they did in Fall 2009. Last year at this time, just over one-third of respondents had those same plans. In fact, current plans are more in line with employer plans for Fall 2008.

The survey was conducted March 1 – April 9, 2010, among NACE employer members; 177 employers, or 20 percent, participated.

NACE members can access a copy of the Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update here.