Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals

Continuing a slide that has occurred in recent years, the percentage of employers that will hire international students has hit a new low, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2018 report.

This year, just 23.4 percent of employer respondents indicated they will hire international students. (See Figure 1.) This is down from 27.5 percent last year and a high of 34.2 percent in 2015. The decrease, however, isn’t surprising, as employers also reported that they plan to hire almost 16 percent fewer international students for positions in the United States during the 2017-18 recruiting year.

By industry, accounting services employers show the most interest in hiring international students as 60 percent of respondents have plans to do so in 2017-18. (See Figure 2.) While this matches last year’s result, the percentage of computer and electronics manufacturers that plan to hire international students has dropped significantly, from nearly two-thirds in each of the past two years to less than one-third this year.

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.