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A diploma and a job? Employment prospects looking brighter for Michigan college graduates

graduates in a line
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio
A new MSU survey says the job market is looking up for Michigan college graduates.

The job market is looking good for this year’s Michigan college graduates.

Michigan State University’s annual Recruiting Trends survey finds hiring of college graduates at all degree levels should be “very strong” in 2016-17.

Researchers credit company growth and employee turnover for a projected 23% increase in hiring.   A big part of that increase is tied to employers' plans to hire more people with newly minted bachelor’s degrees (19%) and associate degrees (37%).

“The college labor market has enjoyed six years of steady improvement since the depths of the recession between 2009 and 2010,” says Phil Gardner, survey author and director of MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

“Our report shows that the hiring of college graduates has been moving at warp speed for the past two years. And signs in the early fall of 2016 point again to another explosive year of hiring,” adds Gardner.

The MSU researchers say employers plan to hire more than 100,000 graduates this year, and 70% of them will be at the bachelor's degree level. 

The Recruiting Trends survey quizzed more than 4,000 employers in all 50 states.

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Public since 2005. Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting.
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