2016 Business Graduates in Demand

Business graduates are most in demand among employers recruiting bachelor’s degree graduates from the college Class of 2016, according to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

By broad category, the highest percentage of employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2016 survey reported that they will hire business graduates. Likewise, graduates in individual business majors are also in high demand among respondents, who represent organizations with a focused effort to recruit new college graduates.

Nearly 70% of responding employers plan on hiring graduates from the business disciplines, while 66.7% anticipate hiring those in engineering and 57.8% expect to hire computer and information sciences graduates. (See figure 1.)

Meanwhile, three of the top four majors in demand—accounting (54.4%), finance (50.6%), and business administration/management (47.8%)—are business majors. (See figure 2.)
Computer science (53.9%) and mechanical engineering (47.8%) majors also landed in the top five.

Figure 1: Top bachelor’s degrees in demand, by broad category

Source: Job Outlook 2016, National Association of Colleges and Employers

Figure 2: Top bachelor’s degrees in demand, by major

Source: Job Outlook 2016, National Association of Colleges and Employers

The Job Outlook 2016 survey was conducted from Aug. 5, 2015, through Sept. 13, 2015, among NACE employer members. A total of 201 NACE employer members participated in the survey—a 20.1% response rate. Of those responding, 12.4% were from the West, 22.4% were from the Northeast, 31.8% were from the Southeast, and 33.3% were from the Midwest.