JANUARY 30,1987 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Job prospects dimmer this spring
By SUSAN SKORUPA
Thanks to the merger mania that
swept through corporate America in
1986, student job prospects for this
spring seem dimmer than last
springs, two recent national surveys
of company hiring plans indicate.
And grads this year are likely to
be tested for drug use or even AIDS
before getting a job.
Michigan State's annual survey,
released in late Dec., found that big
companies in particular have cut back
their plans for hiring new college
grads.
A Northwestern University study
released at the same time predicts
demand for 1987 grads will morror
1986 hiring, but employers say they
Wyoming's seven state com
munity colleges desparately need an
extra $3 million from the state.
Faculty members, state Gov. Ed
Herschler says, may soon start
leaving if they don't get it.
To the north of here. Northern
Montana College — similarly short
of money last week announced it will
stop offering 22 degree programs and
fire 12 administrators to try to save
precious dollars.
At the same time, Texas educators
held a dramatic press conference in
Austin, asserting that recent cuts in
state college funding were causing a
"slow and painful demise" of the
state’s campuses.
It's happening, in fact, in prob
ably a majority of states now, as
state legislatures reconvene to start
their new sessions.
While most observers are busy
fretting about the massive, deep cuts
in federal college funding proposed by
President Reagan on Jan. 5, the real
crisis in college funding nationwide
seems to be developing in the
individual states.
"This year and in coming years,
slate funding for higher education
will be very tight," predicts Dr.
Edward Hines, director of Illinois
State University's Grapevine Report,
which tracks slate education funding
around the country.
"With state priorities for ele
mentary and secondary education,
increases for higher ed will be very
hard to come by. In fact, in 10 or 15
states, decreases in higher education
budgets could become a yearly
occurrence."
As a result, campuses in Arizona,
Nebraska and some other states are
cutting back the numbers of course
sections they offer. Other schools are
dropping whole degree programs,
leaving some students stranded in mid
career on college.
To save money, some schools in
Louisiana, Colorado, Montana, North
will screen applicants more closely
than before, and starting salaries
while increasing an average of 2.1
percent will lag behind inflation.
Both Michigan Slate and North
western observers blame the unpre
cedented wave of corporate mergers
and acquisitions that reached record
levels last year.
"Downsizing,consolidations,mer
gers and acquisitions have cost the
country jobs in some of our biggest
and best paying corporations," says
Victor Lindquist, Northwestern's
placement director and author of the
annual Endicolt—Lindquist Report.
About 56 percent of companies
Lindquist surveyed said they'd
intentionally reduced their mana
gerial staffs during the last year
Dakota, Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and
Washington, D.C. are weighing pro
posals higher to merge or to close
down entirely by next fall.
Former University of Wisconsin
at Madison Chancellor Irving Shain,
for one, predicted in December that a
five percent cut in the amount of
money the state gives the UW
system may force 13 percent of the
student body to drop out.
Still others think public colleges
will have to impose yet another new
round of steep tuition hikes for fall to
compensate for the new shortage of
state funds.
The cuts and mid year budget
shortfalls follow several optimistic
years that saw some states boost
education funding substantially. But,
by mid 1986, many governors and
state legislators were slashing bud
gets for colleges and other state
agencies.
"Those states heavy into oil,
minerals and farming are the hardest
hit," Hines says. "They don't have
any other economic vase to depend
on, so in those states funding for
higher education is hard to come by."
With private industry and richer
schools already luring faculty away
from some financially strapped state
colleges, most schools are examining
ways to raise new money and tighten
spending without cutting course
offerings or faculty.
"There'll be some cutting across
the board with deeper cuts in some
areas and smaller ones in others, but
most healthy institutions can do one
time budget cuts without doing too
much damage," says Dr. John
Blackburn, past president of the
American Association of University
Presidents.
Wyoming's community colleges
already are duplicating the University
of Wyoming's faculty hiring freeze.
In addition, "now they are making
selective cuts in operating expenses
and cleaning up some programs,"
explains Jim Randolph of the state's
through reorganization, hiring,
freezes, termination without sevec-
ance or early retirement incentives.
Michigan State's annual survey of
700 businesses also found the biggest
companies are the ones cutting back
the most, reports MSU survey co
author Patrick Scheetz.
For example, companies with
more than 10,000 employees said
they'd hire 9.3 percent fewer new
college grads this spring, Scheetz
says. Firms with 5,000 to 10,000
employees will cut new grad hiring
by 1.5 percent.
General Motors, for one, faced
with falling profits, announced in late
Dec. it will halt college recruiting
efforts altogether.
Inreponse, area colleges are trying
Community College Commission.
"I don't see any colleges making
massive program changes, but if
there are more state cuts and local
funding shortfalls, we can expect lay
offs and program cuts."
And, if the cuts deepen or
continue beyond this year, admini
strators nationwide may have to do
the same, ISU's Hines v/ams.
"That dosen't mean all programs
will decline," he says. "But admini
strators will have to look closely at
those programs with enrollment
declines or those that are just not too
highly esteemed."
Raising money through funding
drives and tuition increases could
help some schools out of the slump,
too, he adds, "but not all schools can
do that. Some have good relations
with their alums or aggressive
fundraising programs already in
place."
While state budget shortfalls
probably will mean lots of belt
tightening for state colleges, Hines
doubts many campuses actually will
close under financial pressure.
to bring smaller firms to campus to
recruit. "We're expanding or job days
to small and medium sized com
panies," says Janis Chabica, director
of Cooperative Education at the
University of Michigan—Flint.
But, while hiring will increase
among smaller companies as much as
6.7 percent in companies with 500 to
1,000 employees overall hiring will
slip 2.4 percent nationally, Scheetz
says.
"This year, the demand will be in
mid sized and small companies," he
explains. "Many larger organizations
are merging and downsizing, if they
can't make a product they need
themselves, they're farming the job
out to smaller companies. Hence the
growth of smaller operations.”
Better technology also is making
it easier for companies to increase
productivity without adding staff,
Scheetz notes.
"There's an element of global
competition now so companies are
looking to do more either fewer
employees."
Firms also are cutting hiring
plans because they're unsure what
1987's economy will be like,
Lindquist agrees.
"Only three percent (of the firms
surveyed) expect a (business)
downturn, but some employers are
still cautious about 1987 because of
concerns about the economy, the
continuing exportation of American
jobs, the deficits in foreign trade and
our national debt."
Nevertheless, hotel and restaurant
management, marketing and sales,
education, electrical engineering,
computer science, retail and
accounting majors should get a lot of
job offers, Scheetz says.
The surveys show overall demand
has shifted from manufacturing to
service jobs. Engineering opport
unities are down nine percent and
non-engineering opportunitiesare up
five percent, Lindquist adds.
Students majoring in civil and
mechanical engineering, home
economics, agriculture, geology and
advertising will probably have the
hardest time getting jobs, the surveys
suggest.
Top starting salaries will go
electrical, mechanical and chemical
engineers, all breaking the 529,000
per year mark.
But the flat demand and the large
number of graduates mean higher
salaries will go to students with the
bestgrades and internship experience,
Lindquist says.
Geographically, the southwestern
states will offer the most opport
unities, followed by the Northeast,
the Southeast, North Central, South
Central and Northwest regions.
"Two years ago the south central
area had one of the highest hiring
rates in the country," Scheetz recalls.
"Now it places fifth out of six, and
you can probably blame the drop on
the energy industry."
The students who are recruited,
moreover, may face yet another
obstacle before actually winning jobs
this spring.
One third of Lindquist's 230
respondents now test job applicants
for drug use, a 136 percent increase
in the number of testers. An
additional 19 percent say they'll start
testing in then next year.
The College Placement Council
(CPC) reports that nearly 30 percent
of the firms that recruit on campuses
now screen applicants for drug use.
Another 20 percent plan to adopt the
practice within two years.
"The data found in our survey (of
497 national employers) cooperate
other reports that drug screening
programs are on the rise," says CPC
spokesman Warren Kauffaman.
"Clearly the study shows this is a
major employment issue."
Nearly 90 percent of employers
who use drug screening tests say they
won't hire applicants who fail the
tests. Most rank safety as the top
reason for demanding such testing,
followed by security, quality and
reliability of products and services,
productivity, health cost control and
noncompany or government reg
ulations.
Two percent of firms in
Lindquist's survey also now test
employees for AIDS, while another
five percent plan to begin such
testing in 1987.
IT WONT BE
THESm
mnm m
Doc's
February Deals...
To introduce our delicious NEW
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Feb. 15.
Feb. 11, 13, 14, 19 & 21, home
basketball games — free medium
beverage with large pizza purchase.
For February lunch specials, see
announcement in Doc's or the Ad
ministrative Building bulletin board.
Individual states trimming back
financial assistance for colleges
By SUSAN SKORUPA