The fall 2024 outlook from the National Association of Colleges and Employers projected a 7.3% increase for 2025 graduates over 2024 graduates, but that has since leveled off to 0.6% in the association’s spring outlook after employers adjusted hiring plans.
Employers, grads make adjustments
Nearly 90% of employers anticipate increasing (24.6%) or maintaining (64.6%) hiring levels for the college Class of 2025 compared to the Class of 2024, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The other 11% of respondents to the association, though, are planning to decrease hires, which cut down previous hiring projections.
Employers are being a little more reserved in their hiring plans compared to previous estimates, according Jason Eckert, executive director of career services at the University of Dayton. Projections are still level with the hiring plans that 2024 graduates saw.
“I think a lot of employers who had intentions to hire are now taking a more cautious approach in light of concerns regarding federal executive orders and the uncertainty created by the tariff situation,” Eckert said.
The university has seen some students who have had to pivot with their employment plans given the federal government’s hiring freeze.
“Unfortunately, we have seen students who had offers with the federal government in some cases lose those job offers,” Eckert said.
That included some students who had been planning on working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base or in Washington, D.C., he said.
For those students who still wanted to pursue a career in public service, the university encouraged them to look at other levels of government.
“Our first advice for those students is to look at state and local government, because when you look here in Ohio, the state of Ohio and even our local municipalities are hiring,” Eckert said.
Past outcomes
In looking at previous years’ outcomes, nearly 85% of Class of 2023 bachelor’s degree graduates and nearly 90% of master’s degree graduates were employed or engaged in further education within six months of graduation, according to the most recent information from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
For graduates who earned a bachelor’s degree between 2019 and 2023, between 53% to just under 60% of those graduates each year were employed full-time within six months of graduating, according to the association.
The lowest rate was in 2020, with 53.6% of graduates with a bachelor’s degree employed within six months. The highest rates were in 2019 and 2022, with about 59% graduates with a bachelor’s degree employed within six months. For the Class of 2023, about 57.2% were employed by that time.
Ohio has jobs to fill
Ohio has added more than 81,000 private sector jobs in the past six years, according Gov. Mike DeWine’s office. Another 15,000 additional jobs are coming to Ohio through projects that are currently in development.
“We have so many wonderful opportunities coming our way in Ohio,” said Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel.
Currently, there are more than 144,000 jobs posted on OhioMeansJobs.com with about 92,000 of those jobs paying more than $50,000 per year, the governor’s office said.
“In Ohio, we are building careers in industries that shape our future, from advanced manufacturing and health care to technology and skilled trades. Now is the time to get in the game and find your path,” Tressel said.
Locally, colleges have seen interested employers looking for workers.
Credit: Erin Pence
Credit: Erin Pence
“Here at Wright State, we have had phenomenal turnout for employers at our recruiting events,” said Kim Gilliam, director of career education and success at Wright State University.
Wright State has had lots of employers on campus recruiting new graduates and interns, Gilliam said.
In-demand positions
Manufacturing and technology industries continue to have strong demand for workers, Barlow said. Employers are also looking for skilled trades, she said.
Employers are also looking for people to dive into a company’s data to help inform business decisions and create actionable recommendations.
“Another field that continues to amaze me with its growth is data analytics, operations research; those are very related fields," Barlow said.
Wright State is similarly seeing more interest in data analytics, Gilliam said, along with artificial intelligence.
Credit: Erin Pence
Credit: Erin Pence
Health care continues to be a strong industry.
“There are lots of opportunities for nursing graduates in a variety of different specialty areas,” Barlow said.
In addition to nurses, teachers are also in high demand, Gilliam said.
“The most requests we get are for those students,” Gilliam said about nursing and education students.
Wright State participates in an annual education fair with about five other universities, and this year nearly 120 school districts from across the country attended to scout prospective teachers, she said. About 36 school districts typically attend the fair.
People may be leaving the education field or retiring, and this is happening at the same time as fewer college students are pursuing teaching as a career, Gilliam said.
Looking ahead, most employers expect to be seeking candidates for entry-level roles as well as internships in the fall, which is a positive sign for the Class of 2026.
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