College Hiring Dips, But Most Employers Will Maintain or Increase Hiring

Figure1While 17.4% of respondents plan to decrease hires, nearly 83% of employers anticipate increasing (24.9%) or maintaining (57.7%) hiring for the college Class of 2024, according to research conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Planned cuts mean overall hiring projections are down 5.8% from last year, NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 Spring Update survey found. (See Figure 1.)

“Our data indicate that decreases are largely tied to particular respondents, especially by industry,” says NACE President and CEO Shawn VanDerziel. “When taken in the context of coming off historic hiring that followed the pandemic, and in light of industry’s impact on the hiring outlook, the overall drop in hiring for the Class of 2024 is neither unexpected nor necessarily dire.”

The research shows industries with large decreases in hiring this year include chemical (pharmaceutical) manufacturers, which planned a hiring increase of slightly more than 30% last year but expect to decrease hiring by almost 13% for the Class of 2024. The same is true for computer and electronics manufacturers as their planned increase for last year’s class (19.1%) has dropped to a decrease of almost 12% this year.

In the business sector, finance, insurance, and real estate organizations are planning a 14.5% decrease in hiring this year as opposed to their 16.7% increase last year. While most employers in these industries are maintaining their hiring from one year to the next, there are many companies that will be hiring less, causing an overall decrease.

In contrast, industries with newly positive projections include miscellaneous manufacturing (20.3% this year compared to -4.6% last year), utilities (0.3% compared to -39.0%), and miscellaneous professional services (5.8% compared to -16.6%). (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2“Both the gains and cutbacks reflect a return to ‘normal’ hiring plans and mean that while some graduates will have more opportunities than their counterparts from the Class of 2023, others in the current class will need to be flexible — and even creative — in their job search,” says VanDerziel.