The Class of 2025 is expected to enjoy a stronger job market when they graduate in the spring, according to new projections from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE. Employers stated they will hire 7.3% more graduates next April than last year, and 27% said they are planning to increase hiring.
Graduates may also be looking at more lucrative compensation. About 41% of employers expect to increase salaries for bachelor’s degree holders, and the proportion of employers planning to offer sign-on bonuses this year (52.1%) is the highest recorded since the pandemic.
Job turnover and growth are leading employers to seek fresh talent. Specifically, the most popular reasons for increased hiring included succession planning (84.5%) and company growth (62.1%).
Again, these are only projections. NACE will finalize hiring numbers for 2024-25 graduates in its 2025 Spring Update report. While hiring for the Class of 2023 was expected to increase by 14.7%, the actual figure posted in April was 3.9%. This survey collected responses from 237 employers, 162 of which were members of the college career service association.
How skills-based hiring is changing the interview process
While some employers hire based on a graduate’s credentials, more businesses are willing to bring on new employees regardless of how their major relates to the industry. More than half (51%) said they hire both kinds of applicants.
This may be due to the 65% of respondents who used skills-based hiring practices, particularly competency-based job descriptions and how they measured applicants in the interview process.
Is the Class of 2025 ready for the workforce?
Two employer surveys published earlier this year found that respondents were wary of hiring Gen Z graduates due to their lack of workplace skills, such as communication and conflict resolution.
Huy Nguyen, chief education and career development advisor at Intelligent, and Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder, blamed these deficiencies on social-emotional learning disruptions caused by the pandemic.
“Remote work can mask certain deficiencies, but in a physical office setting, managers and other employees observe firsthand how new hires handle conflicts, respond to feedback and manage their responsibilities in a shared workspace,” Nguyen said when the survey was released.
More from UB: 5 ways to improve civic engagement among your students
