Hiring Outlook for College Graduates in Coming Year Remains Bleak

The good news: Hiring for new college graduates is expected to hold steady in 2010. The bad: Hiring for new college graduates is expected to hold steady in 2010. That’s after plummeting in 2009 by about 35 to 40 percent, according to a major annual survey of companies.

“It’s going to be competitive, no doubt about it,” says Phil Gardner, director of Michigan State University’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which conducts the survey.

Findings from the survey, “Recruiting Trends 2009-2010,” were released Monday. They are based on survey responses from more than 1,800 employers and include jobs for students completing both undergraduate and graduate degrees, though the bulk of the projected hiring is of bachelor’s-degree holders.

Only 27 percent of respondents said they had “definite” plans to hire new graduates, a much lower percentage than in last year’s survey. But, although companies in last year’s survey may have felt more confident about 2009, they scaled back hiring much more than the 8 percent they had expected to—largely, Mr. Gardner says, because the scale of the economic crisis was not yet clear when the survey was conducted.

This year, he says, employers are looking for flexibility in new hires. As companies search for new revenue opportunities, they are looking for students with an entrepreneurial bent and placing a premium on critical thinking. And, because they are uncertain about their long-term work-force needs, employers say they want students with broad strengths that could fit a range of positions. “Skills are paying off more than a degree per se,” says Mr. Gardner.

Demand in traditionally robust fields, like engineering and accounting, has dropped, he says. Meanwhile, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, and environmental sciences have become strong areas.

The full report will be available for purchase at the center’s Web site later this week.