State Employment Survey Shows High Demand for Local Graduates

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There is a strong interest by Michigan employers to invest in students, as well as a high demand for graduates with technical and business-related degrees, says a survey released today by the Livonia-based American Society of Employers.

“This year’s survey reflects that the investment by Detroit area employers in co-op and internship programs remains strong,” says Mary Corrado, president and CEO of the American Society of Employers. “It also affirms the financial rewards available to new graduates with degrees in key engineering and business fields.”

The annual survey provides a comprehensive look at current workforce conditions and reveals what co-op students and recent college graduates can expect in terms of job availability and compensation. Almost 80 percent of the respondents said their company has hired, or plans to hire, a recent college graduate this year.

Other highlights from the survey include a continuing trend in “Labor Market” (62 percent) and “Performance of the Company” (50 percent) as the two largest reasons for a change in hiring and recruiting practices for recent college graduates, and a 10 percent increase in service industry companies who have hired recent college graduates in the past year, or plan to this year.

Corrado says the top three most popular technical bachelor-degree disciplines hired in the past year were mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. Hiring of MBA students with a technical undergraduate degree increased 12 percent since 2015.

Nearly 170 companies responded to the survey, which was distributed to 2200 employers in an online format in February. Seventy-five percent of respondents are located in the metro Detroit, and have an average of 590 employees.

The American Society of Employers is a not-for-profit trade association providing people-management information and services to Michigan employers