job market for undergrads, which tanked back in mid-2001, is roaring back.
of course, that’s not, at first glance, good news for employers. on the other hand, it does mean, for the firms and companies who can be competitive, that they may be able to widen their leads over also-rans with better talent.
“not all employers feel the economy is performing strongly; but they feel compelled to add workers after 3? years of very limited hiring,” says a survey of 582 employers conducted by michigan state university’s collegiate employment research institute (ceri), according to monster.com.companies are being more selective about their hires, and they’re raisning expectations. “companies that are adding are adding very nominally to their rolls, and they’re expecting those people to carry more of a load,” says paul dorf, phd, managing director of compensation resources, a compensation and human resources consulting firm in upper saddle river, new jersey.
in addition, ceri director philip gardner says he’s seeing labor substitution, or companies hiring bas to do the work of mbas to save money on mba salaries.
who’s earning what
ceri predicts that starting salaries for 2005 graduates with bachelor’s and associate’s degrees will be 3 percent to 7 percent higher than they were for the class of 2004.
for job candidates with bachelor’s degrees, the employers ceri surveyed report offering starting salaries ranging from:
— $32,500 to $37,600 for business administration majors.
— $31,600 to $40,800 for all business majors.
— $35,600 to $42,900 for finance majors.
— $35,500 to $41,400 for accounting majors.
— $35,100 to $40,100 for economics majors.
— $33,700 to $42,400 to marketing majors.
compare this to: can flood of new grads ease cpa shortage? and job market: accounting is hot