January 30, 2002 >
Employers say they expect to hire approximately 20 percent fewer new college graduates in 2001-02 than they did in 2000-01.

Employers were originally surveyed in July 2001 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) for its annual "Job Outlook 2002" report. At that time, the employers gave a preview of what was to come by projecting a double-digit decrease in their college hiring.

NACE resurveyed respondents in December 2001 to update the report.

"Most employers still hold with their early projections," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "They are cutting back, but no more than they originally planned."

When asked to compare their current hiring plans to their earlier projections, more than half (55 percent) of the respondents said they are carrying out their original plans.

Another 36.7 percent said they are lowering their projections, and 8.3 percent said they plan to hire more new graduates than they had originally anticipated.

The Job Outlook 2002 Update also yielded the following findings:

* The majority of employers in the Northeast, Midwest, and South say they are sticking to the hiring projections they made in July. In the West, however, nearly half of responding employers say they expect to further reduce their college hiring projections.

* Government/nonprofit organizations are most "positive" about hiring new graduates this year.

* Asked if they decided to postpone recruiting from fall to spring, more than 75 percent of respondents say they didn't.

NACE, headquartered in Bethlehem, Penn., has been providing information about the employment of college graduates since 1956.

Links

• National Association of Colleges and Employers
• From the HR.BLR.com Library:
  
  • Staffing and Recruiting