Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Eight of the 10 top majors in demand by employers at the bachelor’s degree level fall in the business category continuing a shift away from high-tech majors, according to results of NACE’s Job Outlook 2018 survey.
This shift away from more high-tech majors toward business majors began in last year’s Job Outlook 2017 survey. In 2016, six of the top 10 top majors were in business.
The top majors in demand this year are finance, accounting, and business administration/management, followed by computer science. (See Figure 1.) The only other technical major on the list is information sciences and systems, which falls seventh in terms of demand.
Data for the Job Outlook 2018 survey were collected from August 9, 2017, through October 2, 2017. A total of 201 surveys were returned—a 20.5 percent response rate. The Job Outlook 2018 report is available to members through MyNACE; nonmembers can purchase the report through the NACE store.
Figure 1: Top Degrees in Demand (Bachelor’s Degree Level)
| Major |
# of Respondents
That Will Hire |
% of Respondents
That Will Hire |
| Finance |
86 |
65.2% |
| Accounting |
80 |
60.6% |
| Business Administration/Management |
78 |
59.1% |
| Computer Science |
73 |
55.3% |
| Marketing |
67 |
50.8% |
| Management Information Systems |
66 |
50.0% |
| Information Sciences & Systems |
64 |
48.5% |
| Logistics/Supply Chain |
64 |
48.5% |
| Sales |
60 |
45.5% |
| Human Resources |
60 |
45.5% |
Source: Job Outlook 2018, National Association of Colleges and Employers