Students who graduate next May can look forward to a better job market, according to a survey from the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.
The survey found a 15 percent increase in total hires this year across all degree levels.
The report surveyed more than 4,700 employers across various sectors and industries including health care, education, finance, social services, government, manufacturing, nonprofits, business and scientific services.
Director of the CERI Phil Gardner said the goal of the survey is to take a snapshot of the college labor market as it is forming for the year. Michigan State has done the survey for 45 years.
Dagney Faulk, director of research for the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State, said the unemployment rate has been going down the last few years which suggests the labor market is improving.
“We’ve seen job growth in a variety of industry sectors including manufacturing here in the state but also business services, education and health are really strong so a lot of those industries are planning to hire,” Faulk said.
Gardner said students should start seeking jobs in their fields now.
“Those who wait until just before or shortly after they graduate will face a more difficult time in finding meaningful employment,” Gardner said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Indiana unemployment rate is at 5.4 percent, close to the country’s rate of 5.5 percent.
However, Faulk said there is still some uncertainty because Congress is dysfunctional and Europe and Asia have had slow economies.
“There is Europe and Asia who have been in a period of slow economic growth or recession too for the past year or so, companies or businesses that do a lot of exports that obviously affects their bottom line,” Faulk said.
Gardner expects the hiring rate to remain constant.
“I suspect the rate will stay about the same as the last few years – above 10 percent growth for at least one more year,” Gardner said. “Then the market may cool off to growth between 5 and 8 percent, hard to tell more than a year out because of the trouble in the global economy.”
According to a 2013 alumni survey conducted by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, one in three respondents reported they found a job within three months of graduation. Fifty-one percent of respondents were working in their major field of study while 28 percent were employed in an area related to their major.
Students graduating with a master’s degree can expect hiring to expand by 10 percent, according to the survey.
Read More
Delta baseball defeats Yorktown in extra innings to become Delaware County champions
By Zach Carter / 6 hours agoThe Eagles defeated the Tigers 5-2 in extra innings to win the Delaware County baseball tournament. It's the first time Delta has won the event since 2017.
'I'm grateful and proud:' No. 6 Ball State falls to No. 1 Miami in MAC Championship title game
By Zach Carter / 10 hours agoThe No. 6 Cardinals fell to the No. 1 Redhawks 8-0 in the MAC title game. It's the farthest the Cardinals have advanced in the tournament since 2015.
AP: Police arrest dozens as they break up pro-Palestinian protests at several US universities
By The Associated Press / 19 hours agoPolice made dozens of arrests as pro-Palestinian protest encampments were dismantled Friday at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hours after police tear-gassed demonstrators and took down a similar camp at the University of Arizona.
