More than one-half of U.S. employers plan to hire recent college grads: Survey

Firms looking to grads to fill IT, customer service, sales positions

The college graduating class of 2012 is heading into a better job market than alumni of the previous three years, according to a survey from CareerBuilder and CareerRookie.com.

More than one-half (54 per cent) of employers in the United States reported they plan to hire recent college graduates in 2012, up from 46 per cent in 2011, 44 per cent in 2010 and 43 per cent in 2009.

“This is the first time since the recession that we’re seeing a majority of employers planning to add recent college graduates to their employee roster,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. “Companies across industries are placing a strong emphasis on recruiting fresh talent for technology-related roles and positions designed to drive revenue — and they’re willing to pay more for high-skill, educated labour.”

Of those who plan to hire recent college graduates, 29 per cent expect to offer higher starting salaries than they did in 2011. While employers were most likely to report that they would pay between US$30,000 and US$40,000 (30 per cent), a significant portion will extend offers exceeding US$50,000 (28 per cent), found the survey of 2,300 hiring managers.

Business (39 per cent) is the major most in demand followed by computer and information sciences (24 per cent) and engineering (23 per cent).

Companies continue to recruit recent college graduates for roles that drive innovation, sales and new market opportunities. They are looking to recent grads to fill positions related to information technology (25 per cent), customer service (23 per cent) and sales (21 per cent).

Latest stories