Hiring prospects are looking dim across the board. The only exception? Government.
Fifty-two percent of employers surveyed in the Job Outlook 2009 Special Report said they would probably "be hiring fewer graduates during the 2009 recruiting season than they hired from the Class of 2008." The survey was conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers between Oct. 6 and 17.
The results show a marked increase from about one-third of the same employers surveyed in August who said they were "re-assessing their projection of college hires downward."
The report found that between August and October, expectations for manufacturing and professional service jobs remained steady, but expectations for hiring in business services, finance and insurance, distribution and utilities, trade and agriculture decreased with the biggest hit coming to construction, a 19.6 percent reduction. Federal government was the only area where expectations surged, with a 19.8 percent positive change.
Geeta Chougule, the faculty liaison for Brown's Government at Work project, said the government hiring increase stems from baby boomers who will retire in the next five years, leaving vacancies in one-third of government jobs. She said the economic downturn has not affected the federal government as "drastically" as other job markets.
The Government at Work program helps students apply for government jobs, guiding them through the application and security clearance processes. The initiative started in January, so Chougule said she could not compare interest in the program to past years.
Chougule said in the past, government posts were filled by people who just "fell in" to them, and the federal government wasn't generally known for recruiting. But with one-third of the workforce retiring, Chougule said "they really are looking for the best and brightest."
The government is especially trying to find employees for five "mission critical" areas: security, enforcement and compliance assistance; medical and public health; engineering and sciences; program management and administration; and accounting, budget and business. Chougule said many students in the sciences don't realize that there are careers available to them in the federal government.
"I've set myself up pretty well the last three years," said Eric Slais '09. He said he's already had a job offer in the private sector and plans to move home to Missouri.
Linguistics and English double-concentrator Rachel Sohl '09 said her friends are becoming more and more stressed about job prospects. She said she was also a little worried, but said there will always be jobs in K-12 education.
"It just shouldn't be the case that someone graduating from an Ivy League school should be concerned," Sohl said.
