Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
The percentage of employers with diversity recruiting efforts is the highest it has been over the past 11 years, according to NACE’s 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report.
The survey found that 88 percent of responding employers have formal diversity recruiting efforts. This is nearly 8 percent higher than last year and almost 32 percent higher than in 2016. (See Figure 1.)
African-Americans were the top targeted group (93.9 percent) this year, followed by women (89.9 percent) and Hispanic-Americans (88.5 percent). This is consistent with results from earlier surveys. (See Figure 2.)
Military veterans were highly targeted in 2016, but that percentage has dropped by more than 11 percent since. Although students with disabilities saw a large drop last year, employers reported a slight increase of 1.4 percent this year.
This is the second consecutive year that LGBT diversity efforts were surveyed. This year, employers reported a 7.8 percent gain in their efforts to prioritize the LGBT community in their recruiting efforts.
Data collection for NACE’s 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report took place from June 20, 2018, to September 10, 2018; 218 firms participated. The 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report is available free to members through MyNACE. An executive summary of the report is available through the NACE Store.
Figure 1: Percentage of employers with diversity recruiting efforts: 2008-18
| Year |
% of employers with diversity recruiting efforts |
| 2018 |
88.0% |
| 2017 |
80.3% |
| 2016 |
56.3% |
| 2015 |
70.9% |
| 2014 |
77.4% |
| 2013 |
73.6% |
| 2012 |
69.8% |
| 2011 |
70.9% |
| 2010 |
74.1% |
| 2009 |
75.8% |
| 2008 |
65.6% |
Source: 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Figure 2: Target groups prioritized for recruiting: 2014-18
| Group |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
| African-Americans |
93.9% |
94.4% |
93.3% |
90.1% |
91.1% |
| Women |
89.9% |
90.1% |
95.6% |
90.1% |
91.6% |
| Hispanic-Americans |
88.5% |
84.0% |
90.0% |
83.3% |
85.5% |
| Military veterans |
70.9% |
75.3% |
82.2% |
77.2% |
78.8% |
| LGBT |
54.7% |
46.9% |
- |
- |
- |
| Asian-Americans |
52.7% |
51.9% |
62.2% |
56.8% |
60.3% |
| Students with disabilities |
52.0% |
50.6% |
64.4% |
51.2% |
59.2% |
| Native Americans |
44.6% |
45.1% |
60.0% |
51.9% |
55.9% |
Source: 2018 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers