Ray A. Smith, Jason French and Stephanie Stamm:
A string of cities across America’s Sunbelt are emerging as graduate-hiring hot spots in an otherwise challenging job market for young professionals, an exclusive analysis shows.
Birmingham, Ala., tops the list of the places where newly minted graduates are landing jobs with a college-level career track, followed by Tampa, Fla., according to the new study by payroll processor ADP. In fact, six of the list’s top 10—including Raleigh, N.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C.—are in the South.
Other pockets of the country also punch above their weight as early-career launchpads for their mix of 20-something hiring, pay and affordability. Columbus, Ohio, and California’s San Jose area unexpectedly got top scores this year—evidence that even places with so-so earning potential or high costs of living can be prime locations for landing that first job postgraduation.
Altogether, the ADP analysis—which measured 53 of the country’s biggest metro areas—shows that what looks like a nascent recovery in graduate hiring is happening unevenly. Recent data shows companies are boosting entry-level hiring this spring after holding back for several seasons, but their appetite hinges a lot on the kind of role, sector and location.