As seen on Wall Street Journal…
College seniors may have more trouble landing a job next spring than recent graduates, as employers trim their hiring outlooks in response to the slowing economy and financial-sector turmoil.
Employers plan to hire just 1.3% more graduates in 2009 than they hired this year, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
That’s the weakest outlook in six years and reflects a sharp recent downturn. Just two months ago, a survey by the same group projected a 6.1% increase in hiring. The August survey included 219 employers, 146 of whom responded to the new survey, conducted earlier this month. The big drop in hiring projections is “extremely unusual,” says Edwin Koc, the association’s director of strategic research.
The results continue a pattern of diminishing job prospects for college graduates. A year ago, employers told the association they would increase hiring for the class of 2008 by 16%. By this spring, though, the projected increase had fallen to 8%. The association doesn’t report how actual hiring compares with its projections.
Some of the decline reflects the weakened financial sector, with employers like Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in bankruptcy protection and others, including Merrill Lynch & Co., being acquired. But other employers are tightening their belts as well. Insurer Progressive Corp. last fall expected to hire 4,000 college graduates in 2008. In fact, the company has hired fewer than 1,000 this year. Mari Pumarejo, who works with employment and recruiting for Progressive, says the company expects to hire fewer new grads in 2009, although she declined to offer a precise projection. “Things are changing very rapidly, and we are reassessing everything right now,” she says.
General Electric Co. hired about 900 undergrads and M.B.A. graduates for full-time positions in the U.S. this year, but expects that number to shrink by 10% next spring, while hiring grows overseas. “It’s going to be tougher for the class of ‘09 than it has been for the previous couple of years,” says Steve Canale, manager of recruiting and staffing services.
Retailers Target Corp. and Walgreen Co. also have trimmed hiring projections for 2009. Maureen Reim, director of recruitment for Walgreen, says the company plans to open fewer stores next year and sees more recent hires staying in their jobs, in part because of the weaker job market.
The new survey comes amid the fall corporate recruiting season on college campuses and reflects the weakening U.S. labor market. Employers shed 159,000 non-farm jobs in September, and the unemployment rate was near a five-year high at 6.1%. According to the Department of Labor, the number of unemployed people has risen by 2.2 million in the past 12 months.
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