Class of 2021: Employers hiring more college grads than earlier projected

Employers project hiring 7.2% more new college graduates from the Class of 2021 than they hired from the Class of 2020, according to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

This encouraging news reported in NACE’s Job Outlook 2021 Spring Update is a sharp increase from fall 2020, when employers expected to reduce college hiring slightly. (See Figure 1.)

The rebound in hiring suggests optimism on the part of employers, fueled by expectations around the reopening of shuttered businesses, COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and the addition of jobs to the economy. While not at the pre-pandemic hiring levels seen in 2019, the overall increase does signal strong movement in a positive direction.

Further evidence of the rallying job market for college graduates is evident in the individual hiring plans of respondents to this survey. Almost 30% of respondents now report that they will hire more new college graduates—up from 16.5% in the fall—and just 8% plan to decrease hiring, down significantly from 31% reporting such plans in the fall. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 1: Job Outlook hiring projections, 2011 – 2021*

Year	Fall	Spring Update
2021	-0.1%	7.2%
2020	5.8%	6.3%
2019	16.6%	10.7%
2018	4.0%	-1.3%
2017	5.8%	5.0%
2016	11.0%	5.2%
2015	8.3%	9.6%
2014	7.8%	8.6%
2013	13.0%	2.1%
2012	9.5%	10.2%
2011	13.5%	19.3%

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Figure 2: Hiring plans

Job Outlook	Percent Increasing  Hires	Percent Maintaining Hires	Percent Decreasing Hires
Job Outlook Spring Update 2021	29.0%	63.0%	8.0%
Job Outlook 2021 (Fall 2020)	16.5%	52.5%	31.0%

Also see:

• Recent college grads seeing uptick in salaries and outcomes
• 2021’s most and least educated American states
• Starting salaries for Class of 2021 college grads projected to increase

(Source: NACE)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter