Fewer jobs in financial services worry Class of '02

In the shadow of a weak stock market and increasing corporate layoffs, members of the Class of 2002 are facing a far more uncertain job market than that encountered by recent graduates.

"This year, students will need to take advantage of every opportunity to meet with employers who recruit on campus," said Rosanne Sonatore, Career Services associate director for recruitment and employer relations.

Sonatore cited a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, taken in August, which found that employers expected to hire roughly 20 percent fewer college graduates this year than last year.

Thirty percent of the Class of 2001 is now employed in financial services, an industry that has employed the greatest percentage of new University graduates, according to Career Services. Some speculate that this percentage will not be nearly as high for the Class of 2002 because of the recent economic downturn.

The large financial institutions have been hit hard by the sliding Dow Jones Industrial Average, the decrease in investor confidence and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 on the World Trade Center, Sonatore said.

The effects of the economic downturn have been visible through on-campus recruiting.

Sonatore, while declining to name specific companies, acknowledged, "Employers have reduced the number of interview schedules that they will conduct on campus, and some have decided not to hold an employer presentation/information session this year."

One company involved in these cutbacks is Merrill Lynch. Last month the financial services giant announced that as part of its cost-cutting efforts it would offer bonuses for employees willing to retire early or leave the company. An article in The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is planning to lay off 10,000 employees, although Merrill would not confirm that number.

Merrill spokeswoman Joan Giansante confirmed that some divisions of the company "are scaling back the number of graduate hires this year due to the current economic environment that has affected the business need."

Not all news on the job front is bleak, however. Lehman Brothers spokesman Jason Farago emphasized: "We have been in growth mode since 1994. We're not going to let a blip in the market affect our growth plan."

Farago pointed out that Lehman's 2001 crop of recruits was its largest ever. Asked how this year's group will compare with the last, he demurred.

"It's too early to tell about 2002," he said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Andrea Raphael, a recruiter with Goldman, Sachs, also expressed guarded optimism.

"We have continued to actively recruit at the university level and have not made any changes in recruiting," she said. "Our intention is for our head count to be roughly flat for the fiscal year 2000-2001," Raphael added.

While a stable head count does mean that new hirings will occur as necessitated by attrition, today's job market is a far cry from the booming one of the late 1990s.

Such mixed signals have dominated the job market since the U.S. economy began to slump last year. In light of the situation, Sonatore reminds students that Career Services is prepared to provide necessary resources to pursue alternative job options to financial services, including employers who do not recruit on campus.