As the year is coming to an end, tension is running high for the graduating class of 2012. In a few weeks, many of these students will enter the “real world,” and a lot of them have the same question on their minds: what’s next?
The lucky students, those who have been offered a job by the internship they worked for during the school year, or those who have applied early for a job they wanted and were hired, have this question answered. For the students who haven’t been so fortunate, news of hope is welcomed with open arms.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers has recently surveyed employers and found that they plan to hire about 10.2 percent more new college graduates from the class of 2012 than they did from the class of 2011. The survey suggests that there might be a major bounce back in the economy because employers are confident enough that their company is financially stable enough to handle paying a few more employees.
Reagan Baughman, an economics professor and labor specialist at U. New Hampshire, feels that these statistics make sense.
“The most recent recession that we were in ended officially in June 2009. This was decided based on a number of criteria, but primarily looking at growth in GDP [Growth Domestic Product],” Baughman said. “We’ve been observing since the 1990s that unemployment is slower in its response of getting back to hiring the way it used to before a recession period.”
According to tradingeconomics.com, the current unemployment rate is 8.2 percent, an improvement from 8.5 percent in 2011 and 9.4 percent in 2010.
“I’m not seeing it yet,” Phil Robinson, a UNH senior and chemical engineering major, said. “I’ve applied to 12 places and I’m doing 10 more next week. I feel like I need to be overly cautious because I don’t know what my chances really are.”
Robinson has yet to hear back from most of the places he applied to.
“This whole thing is less than ideal. It’s frustrating, but I don’t know if that’s because [the] job market stinks or just because this is how it works,” he said.
Although it is understandable that students are worried, Baughman said that the recession we are coming out of, sometimes called ‘The Great Recession,’ is very deep, and has what economists like to call a “real impact” on the economy. Employers do not always respond right away when the economy bounces back because it takes them time to get used to the idea of not having to be as careful with their expenses.
“After applying to 15 places, I got an interview with one. I find out on Monday if I got the job,” Eric Donovan, a UNH senior computer engineering major, said. “I mean, I think the job market is fair, but it could be better. We’re probably all just stressing about the unknown.”
Donovan is optimistic that jobs are opening up and that companies will be hiring more this year. “It has to improve at some point, right?” he said. “I’ve been hearing on the news that the economy is getting better. I think it’s about time it actually starts to show.”