Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
The percentage of employers that rate the job market as “very good” has reached a four-year high, according to results of NACE’s Job Outlook 2018 survey.
This year, nearly 40 percent of employers participating in the Job Outlook 2018 survey rate the job market as “very good.” This is up from around 30 percent last year. (See Figure 1.)
To further underscore employers’ improving perception of the job market, their “fair” and “poor” ratings are at their lowest points, with less than 10 percent of respondents rating the market as “fair” and no respondents rating it as “poor.”
Still, akin to results in recent years, the largest percentage of responding employers this year—nearly half—has rated the job market for college graduates as “good.”
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 free to members through MyNACE. Nonmembers can purchase the report through the NACE Store
Figure 1: Employers Rate the Job Market for 2017-18 Graduates
| Academic Year |
Employer Rating |
| Excellent |
Very Good |
Good |
Fair |
Poor |
| 2017-18 |
7.4% |
38.2% |
46.3% |
8.1% |
0.0% |
| 2016-17 |
7.6% |
29.2% |
53.5% |
9.0% |
0.7% |
| 2015-16 |
6.1% |
35.9% |
45.9% |
12.2% |
0.0% |
| 2014-15 |
3.6% |
33.2% |
51.6% |
11.2% |
0.4% |
Source: Job Outlook 2018, National Association of Colleges and Employers