As colleges and universities around the U.S. prepare to open their doors and eject millions of graduates into the job market, debate about the entry-level jobs situation has reached a fever pitch. People are questioning, are there too many graduates and not enough jobs? Are there too many skilled jobs and not enough graduates proficient in a trade?
News about the job market has been peppered with highs and lows and the occasional dreaded flat-line. But it appears the nation’s employers are finally starting to increase hiring. In February and March, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that private-sector employers added 470,000 new jobs, the largest two-month employment gain since 2006. But out of those jobs, how many are in the entry-level category?
Employer Job Posting Activity
According to the AfterCollege database, 331,000 entry-level jobs have been added each month on average since the beginning of 2011. That’s a 40% increase from the same time last year.
Many industries that were stagnant last year are now posting gains in job opportunities. The healthcare industry has ramped up significantly and is the number one industry advertising for entry-level jobs, with almost 55,000 active postings.
Competition for nursing jobs remains fierce, but there are signs that hospitals and other healthcare agencies are resuming hiring initiatives to recruit entry-level nurses. About 21,000 Nursing jobs are being advertised on AfterCollege, an increase from last year.
The IT field is also enjoying growth with almost 22,000 listings.
Other fields that are showing progress in the job market include Engineering, with 17,000 jobs, Business and Finance with 11,046 jobs and Customer Service jobs, with over 31,000 active postings.
Entry-Level Job Searching
Students and recent grads are still encountering difficulty in looking for jobs and internships. However, compared to last year, they are having slightly less of a hard time doing so. The economy is improving, and job seekers’ prospects of finding work are slowly getting better. We’ve asked job seekers two years in a row to gauge their level of ease in finding a job. Here is how 2011 compares to last year:
Employer Popularity and Job Seeker Demand
Job seekers aren’t just relying on stats to make their entrance into the job market. They’re making a push to engage employers as seen in our Employer Popularity Index. On the Index, students and recent grads are telling us where they want to work and are also following companies of interest. Employers are able to gauge where tens of thousands of students want to work and they can also engage with followers.
Employers are slowly becoming more relaxed and confident about hiring in 2011. The state of entry-level jobs is showing signs of improvement, although pre-recession levels have yet to be reached. But it has become apparent that employers who depleted their staff during the recession are eager to pull from this immensely talented class of 2011.
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