Will an Economic Slowdown Affect Campus Recruiting?

by Nathan Laurie 

With the recent slowdown in the American stock markets and the risk of global inflation, will the Canadian economy run out of steam? If Canada heads into a recession will it affect campus recruiting? Are the 250,000 students that graduated in May going to have trouble finding jobs? Will companies pull the plug on their university and college recruiting programs and focus their efforts on reducing their numbers through attrition and layoffs?

Ask any student who graduated between 1990-1994 what their job prospects were and they will tell you “slim and none”. Campus career centers were having trouble filling their job fairs and many companies put their student recruiting plans on the back burner. With experienced managers being laid off there was no need to go out and hire inexperienced students - what a difference a decade makes. Today, even if the economy slows down, other factors such as demographics and the need for skilled labour will keep student recruiting strong even if layoffs occur at the mid to higher levels of organizations.

Demographics

Many of Canada’s largest employers find themselves in an unprecedented position. The average age of their employees is in the mid-to late forties and in the next five years a significant percentage of the Canadian work force will retire. Government agencies, public utilities, health care organizations, oil and gas companies, and the education sector are prime examples of industries that need “new blood”. Companies are aggressively recruiting graduating students now so they will be ready to fill management positions in the future. Hospitals are really feeling the pinch because the baby boomers are retiring from their staff and the aging population is requiring more medical attention than in the past. This double whammy has led to a serious shortage of registered nurses, medical technicians and rehab specialists. The major difference between the early 90’s and today is that the need to recruit students does not depend on the strength of the economy. This makes student recruiting recession proof.

Technology

Technology has infiltrated all sectors of the Canadian economy. Companies in traditional industries like retail, oil & gas, and banking are embracing technology to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Consequently, students graduating with technical skills are finding plenty of job opportunities. Many retailers are using cutting edge systems to manage their inventory, pricing, and customer relationships. Retailers are now fighting it out with hi-tech employers like Nortel and IBM to find students graduating with IT and Systems Engineering degrees.

The exponential growth of the Internet has further increased the competition for students with technical degrees. Bricks and mortar companies have built their websites and now they need people with new age skills in .net, java, HTML, SQL, Oracle, Cold Fusion, etc. to manage them. Many students are graduating from university and enrolling in colleges like Humber, Seneca, Information Technology Institute, and Herzing where they learn Internet related skills. The demand for students graduating from these programs is high because companies are continuously building their IT departments and need to staff the new positions that are being created.

Maintain your employer brand

Companies that recruit on university and college campuses build a relationship with specific schools over time. It takes years for a company to establish their brand with students and there is value in having a strong history with the schools you recruit at. In the early ‘90s many companies stopped visiting campuses because they were no longer looking to hire students. When the economy picked up in the late 90’s many employers reported they had trouble re-establishing themselves as a great place for students to launch their careers. In just four years the entire undergraduate population of a school is replaced with fresh faces. Smart companies know that college recruiting cannot be turned on and off like tap water. Companies that want to get the most out of their college recruiting programs need to be on campus year after year to maintain top-of-mind awareness with students. A great analogy that a senior college recruiter uses is that visiting campuses is similar to selling products in a grocery store. It takes a lot of work to establish your shelf space and once you have it you want to maintain your visibility in front of the shoppers. The same can be said for your brand as an employer when it comes to recruiting students.

Economics

In the early ‘90s many companies downsized in order to reduce their payroll. Employees with less than three years of experience were generally the first to be fired. Ten years later many senior managers are ten years older and approaching retirement. Companies will save more by offering early retirement packages to older employees earning a high salary than by letting entry-level employees go. This will create new opportunities for growth with mid-level managers and open up positions for graduating students.

Conclusion

The above factors highlight why recruiting students is more important now than ever before. It is a competitive market out there and companies with a long-term strategy for success will be recruiting on campus regardless of the economic situation in Canada.

The key challenges for companies in the future will be assimilating the new recruits into the company and bridging the gap between the veterans and the new hires.

Mark Laurie and Nathan Laurie are the 2006 Winners of the CACEE Outstanding Achievement Award. This award was presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to the filed of career planning and recruitment.

They can be reached at (877) 900 5627 ext. 221 or mailto:nlaurie@jobpostings.ca