While employers plan to be more active on campus over the next three months, they have scaled back their hiring plans, according to results of a monthly poll conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
NACE’s latest poll, reported as an index, found that the overall recruiting activity index for January 2010 is 98.6.
“This continues the trend toward increased on-campus activity first evident last month, when the recruiting activity index was 95.4,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. “However, the January college hiring index took a significant step back from the steady increases witnessed during the fall.”
The college hiring index declined from 98.2 in December to 86.4 in January. In addition, 25.8 percent of respondents to the latest poll indicated they planned to increase hiring, a drop from December when 33.4 percent of employers polled said they expect to increase their college hiring.
“This suggests that there is still a considerable distance to go before the college hiring market fully recovers from its recessionary position,” Mackes says.
One of the things to look for in this year’s spring recruiting season is the focus on internship recruiting. A number of respondents to the January poll indicated that they will be eschewing full-time college recruiting, but maintaining or increasing their internship and co-op hiring.
“This helps to explain why the college recruiting activity index continues to improve while the college hiring index has dropped in the past month,” Mackes says.
NACE’s next poll will be conducted February 1 – March 1; results will be reported on NACE’s web site (www.naceweb.org).
Index Shows Recruiting Activity Up, Hiring Down
While employers plan to be more active on campus over the next three months, they have scaled back their hiring plans, according to results of a monthly poll conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
