With many commentators predicting a recession on the horizon, there has been a degree of pessimism around the global economy, and around the labor market in particular.  A recent report from Michigan State University projects a slightly rosier picture however, at least for the graduate job market.

The Recruiting Trends report suggests that job opportunities are set to grow by 12% across all degrees over the 2019-20 period.  It runs counter to the expectations of caution in the labor market, with employers instead appearing confident and robustly hiring graduates at both associate and bachelor’s levels.

The data showed that over 63,000 graduates will be recruited across the sample, but while demand for bachelor’s and associate’s graduates is strong, that for master’s graduates has weakened.

Labor market

The findings come from an analysis of 2,800 employers across every major industrial sector in the United States.  The authors state that despite the generally positive recruitment news, the jobs that are being hired for tend to be at a slightly more modest salary.  Indeed, while 40% of respondents suggested that they will increase salaries, this is below figures from previous years.

This trend was particularly pronounced among larger employers, who were slowing their pace of hiring, albeit only slightly on previous years.  Smaller firms tended to be more enthusiastic and were upping their hiring rate.

There was also a growing demand for professionals with a broader range of skills, with expertise not only in a specific discipline, but across a sufficiently wide range of fields to enable effective collaboration.

“Advanced communication skills, project management, teamwork, critical thinking – that’s what employers want,” the authors say. “Not only are those employees going to work across disciplines, they’re going across business functions and across organizational, political, cultural and nation-state boundaries. So, employees need to have a different set of skills.”

As such, while degrees and major areas of study still retain importance, these fundamental skills should sit underneath all areas of study in order for graduates to thrive in the modern economy.  Alas, this is an area that many graduates struggle in, which is perhaps why many employers seem to prefer graduates who have had internships to provide direct experience of the workplace.