REGENTS REPORT
REGENTS REPORT
South Dakota Higher Education: Good Investment. Great Future. NO. 72, 05/16/97
The Job Market for New College Grads
Looks Good for Students
Graduating This Year
This year, over 2,700 students have graduated with
baccalaureate degrees from South Dakota's public universities.
Fortunately, with low unemployment, this year's graduates enter
one of the best job markets in recent history. They enter a
changing economy that is more reliant on technology, competes on
a global scale, and is the least manufacturing oriented in
America's history. This all means that our graduates, not too
mention the state as whole, need to be prepared for and embrace
change as the world changes around us.
Deindustrialization and the Service
Economy
The share of manufacturing jobs in developed countries fell
from 28% in 1970 to 18% in 1994 according to a recent article in The
Economist. In the United States less than one in every six
workers is employed in a manufacturing job, and more than 70% of
the workforce is employed in the services. If this trend
continues, manufacturing will account for only one in ten jobs
within 20 years. This trend is mainly a result of our success.
Increased productivity has decreased the demand for manufacturing
jobs accompanied with the increased output required of service
industries who rely on "people power". The changes now
are similar to the industrial revolution that replaced
agriculture as the primary employer. In 1860, farming accounted
for about 50% of the workforce, today it accounts for just about
3%.
The chart below shows job growth between 1983 and 1993 by
industry type. Total job growth was about 20% in that time
period-almost all of that growth was in service related
occupations. The black bar represents jobs in the service fields
which grew by 25.5%. The white bar represents jobs in
manufacturing, agriculture, forestry etc. which also grew, but
only at 6.2% between 1983 and 1993.
Percent Change in Employment By Type: 1983-93
Service and Manufacturing
SOURCE: Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
525 copies of this document were produced by the South Dakota Board of Regents at an approximate cost of $0.03 per copy.
For more information contact Zachary Ainsworth at (605) 773-3455 or E-mail at zacha@bor.state.sd.us.
What the New Jobs Are
These new jobs are not all "hamburger flipping"
either, according to the National Association of Colleges and
Employers (NACE). College recruiting is up this year and many of
the jobs are for management and computer consulting firms,
financial and banking institutions, and accountants and retail
managers. Starting salaries range from the low to mid 20s to the
low 30s for some healthcare and computer fields.
Knowledge and information are fast becoming the most important
"product". This, says Peter Drucker the renowned
management guru, will require different kinds of workers, ones
able to quickly adapt and learn new skills. If you doubt the
changing economy of information consider these facts …
SOURCE: Pritchett and Associates
Conclusion--The University Role
Post-secondary education is and will become more important in
this environment as employees need to show that they can adapt
and learn new skills quickly-the ability to learn and use
knowledge is as important as the knowledge itself. A college
education can prepare students for this environment, as indicated
by the recent demand for liberal arts majors (as well as many
other fields) noted by NACE. This demand is credited to the
communication skills that liberal arts majors and educational
experiences provide students. In an employer survey conducted by
NACE oral communication, interpersonal, and analytical skills
were prized most by employers.
Employers' Rankings of Job Candidate Skills
(5-Point Scale: 5=very important; 1=not important)
SOURCE: National Association of
Colleges and Employers