Recruiting Trends 2006-2007 - Executive Summary:

College students who plan on entering the labor market can expect to see more job opportunities in the spring of 2007, according to information supplied by 864 companies and organizations to this year’s Recruiting Trends Report. After two years of double digit growth, the expansion will slow to a modest 4% to 6%. Two opposing factors appear to be colliding in this market.

• Employers who are aggressively hiring in anticipation of pending retirements. This employer base is comprised mainly of large organizations in the manufacturing, utilities, retail, and professional services sectors of the economy. Joining them are small (less than 60 employees) entrepreneurial firms focused on engineering design, computer applications, and research.

• Employers who are cutting back on hiring as the economy slows. Two power houses in adding jobs over the past three years are sharply reducing their hiring – construction and retail. As a result, other industries associated with these sectors are also cutting back. Job losses in the manufacturing sector, while still declining, appear to have bottomed out.

MBA’s will witness a much brighter year. After two year of sluggish growth, MBA hiring is expected to expand by 8% to 10%.

This year marks a return to a traditional, professional major base in recruiting. Many employers are seeking professionally trained graduates from business, engineering, and computer science. Plenty of opportunities exist for other academic majors as well. Some employers continue to seek graduates from any academic major, while others are specifically seeking communication, environmental science, social services, psychology and chemistry majors, to list a few.

Interesting factoids from this year’s report:

• Companies that have definite plans to hire this year are poised to expand opportunities by 8%.

• Companies that currently have preliminary hiring objectives or are still uncertain will likely reduce hiring by 6% and 35% respectively.

• Among the 281 employers that indicated an intention to increase hiring, a 43% expansion is projected. Companies that are likely to reduce hiring (285) are projected to decrease opportunities by 26%.

• Sales and marketing continue to be the key positions employers plan to fill. Other demanded functions include:

o Accounting
o Management Training
o Administration Services
o Business Services
o Design Engineers

• These economic sectors will be expanding their hiring:

o Defense Related Industries
o Utilities
o Transportation; railroad, freight & delivery services.
o Electronics
o Food Manufacturing
o Medical Devices
o Food & Lodging

• Academic majors in highest demand:

o All Business Majors
o Accounting
o Marketing
o Finance
o Electrical Engineering
o Mechanical Engineering
o Civil Engineering
o Computer Services
o Nursing

• Salary increases will be relatively modest. Approximately 45% of respondents do not expect to increase salaries this year. Overall salaries are expected to increase 2% to 3%.

• A major factor determining whether a recent college hire will be promoted or given new assignment is “Showing Initiative.”

• Some employers indicated a preference for more experienced hires to fill staffing needs over new college graduates due to generational factors.

• Parental involvement is an emerging trend in the job search and hiring processes.

Feel free contact us with any questions regarding this report. Media requests can be made either to MSU's Public Relations staff or contact Jennifer Leedy at leedyj@msu.edu.

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Publication Prepared by:

Philip D. Gardner, Ph.D.
Research Director, CERI

Collegiate Employment Research Institute
113 Student Services Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
(517) 355-2211