Report: Hiring of 2018 college grads to increase 4% thanks to strengthening market

2018 College Grads Jobs Outlook — Image credit: NACE

Employers plan to hire 4 percent more new graduates for their U.S. operations from the Class of 2018 than they did from the Class of 2017, according to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

While the 4 percent increase anticipated by employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2018 survey is lower than the hiring projections over the past several years, it continues to point to a positive job market for new college graduates. (See Figure 1.) Further evidence of this positive trend can be found by comparing individual hiring expectations from last year to this year and from assessments of the job market by employers themselves.

When comparing individual hiring expectations from last year to this year, 36 percent of employers responding to last year’s Job Outlook 2017 survey planned to increase hiring, and more than half of respondents had plans to maintain their hiring numbers.

This year, the percentage of responding organizations that plan to increase their hires has increased to 43.7 percent, with those maintaining their numbers dropping to 46.7 percent. Also this year, fewer than 10 percent plan to cut their number of hires. (See Figure 2.)

Among those employers planning to increase their hires, company growth, retirements, and the need for entry-level talent were the primary drivers behind hiring plans.

Meanwhile, the percentage of employers that rate the job market as “very good” has reached a four-year high.

Nearly 40 percent of employers responding to the Job Outlook 2018 survey rate the job market as “very good.” This is up from around 30 percent last year. (See Figure 3.)

To further underscore employers’ improving perception of the job market, their “fair” and “poor” ratings are at their lowest points in recent years, with less than 10 percent of respondents rating the market as “fair” and no respondents rating it as “poor.”

Still, akin to results in recent years, the largest percentage of responding employers this year—nearly half—has rated the job market for college graduates as “good.”