Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
Employers view the overall college job market this year as “very good,” according to results of NACE’s Job Outlook 2020 survey.
Survey respondents last year had a somewhat similar view of the overall college job market, although there is some movement in the perceptions.
While the group of respondents rating the market as “excellent” dropped to slightly less than 10 percent this year, the “very good” and “good” ratings grew, signaling the perception of an overall stable economy. (See Figure 1.)
In addition, the percentage of respondents that rated the market as “fair” fell from 8.9 percent last year to 7.1 percent this year.
Data for the Job Outlook 2020 survey were collected from August 1, 2019, through September 30, 2019. This year’s data collection not only surveyed 905 NACE employer members, but also 2,229 employer organizations that were nonmembers. A total of 150 surveys were returned; 115 were NACE members and the remaining 35 were nonmembers. The Job Outlook 2020 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 2019-20 Graduates
| Rating |
2019-20 |
2018-19 |
2017-18 |
2016-17 |
2015-16 |
| Excellent |
9.8% |
16.8% |
7.4% |
7.6% |
6.1% |
| Very Good |
48.2% |
46.5% |
38.2% |
29.2% |
35.9% |
| Good |
34.8% |
27.7% |
46.3% |
53.5% |
45.9% |
| Fair |
7.1% |
8.9% |
8.1% |
9.0% |
12.2% |
| Poor |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.7% |
0.0% |
Source: Job Outlook 2020, National Association of Colleges and Employers