Nearly 70 percent of companies in Michigan have hired or plan to hire this year’s college graduates, according to a survey released today by the American Society of Employers, an association that serves the state’s business community.
In addition, nearly 80 percent of the responding companies are in metro Detroit and more than half are classified as automotive suppliers.
“This annual survey confirms that organizations are continuing to invest in co-ops and interns, jobs will again be available for students with technical degrees and, regardless of industry, students need to make sure they can adapt to different work environments,” says Mary Corrado, president and CEO of the association.
The survey asked employees from 168 Michigan companies about workforce conditions, as well as what recent college graduates can expect in terms of job availability and salary.
The survey also found the top in-state schools that employees recruit from are, in order, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Kettering University, Oakland University, Michigan Technological University, and Wayne State University (Michigan Tech and Wayne State tied for fifth place).
Corrado says the most popular technical bachelor-degree disciplines hired in the past year were mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. The top three nontechnical bachelor-degree disciplines hired were business administration, accounting, and human resources.
The skill sets organizations looked for when hiring were computer skills, related coursework in college, and work experience and internships. Employers cited issues with adaptability to work environment, career expectations, and compensation expectations as shortcomings of recent college graduates.
Starting salaries for popular bachelor-degree disciplines that employers look for are: engineering from $57,000 to $63,500; computer science at $54,500; finance at $51,000; accounting at $48,500; business administration at $46,000; and human resources at $45,500.
