Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
When compared to the graduating classes over the past five years, members of the Class of 2016 have the best chance of being offered signing bonuses, according to results of NACE's Job Outlook 2016 survey.
In this year's report, 51.8 percent of responding employers indicate plans to offer bonuses. (See Figure 1.) That's up slightly over last year (51 percent), and it continues the upward trend from 47.1 percent in 2013-14.
Another positive for Class of 2016 gradates is that in four of the past five years, the percentage of employers that actually gave signing bonuses to their new college hires exceeded the percentage of those that planned to offer them signing bonuses earlier in the recruiting cycle.
However, not all Class of 2016 graduates will receive signing bonuses. Nearly two-thirds of employers that expect to offer bonuses say that they will offer signing bonuses to selected graduates. Graduates earning degrees in the business, engineering, and computer sciences fields will be most likely to receive these bonuses. (See Figure 2.)
The Job Outlook 2016 survey was conducted from August 5, 2015, through September 13, 2015, among NACE employer members. A total of 201 NACE employer members participated in the survey—a 20.1 percent response rate.
NACE members can access the Job Outlook 2016 report through MyNACE.
Figure 1: Employers offering signing bonuses
Source: Job Outlook 2016, National Association of Colleges and Employers
Figure 2: Percentage of employers offering signing bonuses to 2015-16 graduates, by industry
| Industry |
% offering signing bonuses |
| Utilities |
100.0% |
| Food & Beverage Mfg. |
80.0% |
| Finance, Insurance & Real Estate |
66.7% |
| Chemical (Pharmaceutical) Mfg. |
64.3% |
| Retail Trade |
64.3% |
| Computer & Electronics Mfg. |
62.5% |
| Misc. Mfg. |
60.0% |
| Information |
50.0% |
| Oil & Gas Extraction |
44.4% |
| Accounting Services |
44.4% |
| Transportation |
40.0% |
| Management Consulting |
40.0% |
| Misc. Prof. Services |
40.0% |
| Construction |
37.5% |
| Engineering Services |
12.5% |
| Wholesale Trade |
0.0% |
Source: Job Outlook 2016, National Association of Colleges and Employers