Internships were key for Class of 2020 new hires

Employers were much more likely to make offers of full-time employment to their Class of 2020 interns than they were to interns in previous years, according to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

NACE’s 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey Report notes that nearly 80% of eligible interns from the Class of 2020 received offers, a substantial increase from the offer rates for interns from the Class of 2019 (68.0%) and Class of 2018 (70.4%). (See Figure 1.)

There are positive implications of this increase. First, this elevated offer rate was a catalyst for employers achieving a conversion rate of interns to full-time hires (66.4%) that was nearly 10% higher than last year.

The offer rate was also a key driver of the higher conversion rate for virtual interns: Employers offered full-time positions to their virtual interns at a higher rate (80.5%) than was the case with employers and their on-site interns (73.3%).

The 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey Report explores key aspects of employers’ internship and co-op programs, including hiring projections, conversion and retention rates, compensation data (wages and benefits), recruiting strategies, and information about program structure. This report also includes historical analyses of the data. Data collection took place from December 9, 2020, to February 5, 2021. There were 227 NACE member respondents, representing 25.7% of eligible member respondents.

The survey was also distributed to nonmember companies from which an additional 39 responses were received. An executive summary of NACE’s 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey Report is available on NACEWeb.

(Source: NACE)