Bleak Prospects for 2009 College Graduates

Gone are the days when a good college degree was the key to an instant career. Looking into the future for those Americans who will graduate from college in 2009, the job prospects are not looking that rosy, according to a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey.

For a start, the number of graduates that employers expect to hire has fallen dramatically in the last months, and many will hire fewer than they did last year. On top of that, more and more students are graduating from college each year, so the job market in 2009 will start to be flooded with new graduates.

Starting salaries for new graduates are likely to be the same as last year or even lower, instead of the usual increase. Perks like signing bonuses that might have been around even during 2008 are unlikely to exist in 2009.

Of course, it depends on the industry. The survey suggests that graduates looking for employment in the finance, retail, manufacturing and construction sectors will be the hardest hit. But if you’re graduating to work in an area like accounting, public service, health care, education or technology, then there is still a reasonable demand for new graduates.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 6:07 am and is filed under College and Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.