Hire and hire

Companies offering jobs to 2022 graduates at impressive rates

By Marco Buscaglia for Tribune Content Agency
Published in the Chicago Tribune on April 24, 2022

Great news for the class of 2022—employers are hiring at record rates. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2022 Spring Update, employers are expected to hire 31.6 percent more new college graduates than they hired from the class of 2021. In fact, nearly 56 percent of respondents to NACE’s survey indicated that they would increase their college hires while an additional 41 percent said they’ll maintain their current number. That means fewer than 4 percent of responding companies will decrease their number of college hires in 2022. 

Hiring rates differ by industry. If you’re looking for a job in the oil and gas extraction industry, company HR reps say they’re doubling their college hires with a projected increase of 106 percent. 

Other highlights from the Job Outlook 2022 Spring Update report include:

  • Respondents anticipate that 42 percent of their entry-level positions will be fully in person, 40 percent will be in a hybrid modality, and 18 percent will be fully remote.

  • The overall percentage of respondents that screen candidates by GPA has fallen to an all-time low of 43.5 percent, which is a significant drop from the high point of 2019, when 73.3 percent of respondents were screened by GPA.

  • Fall 2022 recruiting looks extremely positive for the upcoming class of graduates. Almost 90 percent of respondents indicate that they will be hiring for both full-time and intern/co-op positions at this time. The remaining 10 percent of respondents will also be hiring, but either for full-time or intern/co-op positions only.