The internet has become the premier location for college graduates to search employment opportunities with nearly 4 million job ads posted each quarter. And even though only about one-third of workers in the nation have bachelor’s degrees, nearly half of all online job ads cater to college graduates.
In a report released last week, “State Online College Job Market: Ranking the States,” the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce ranked each state according to the number of online job ads published for every 100 college graduated workers within and across 13 industries and 10 occupational fields. Offered as a tool for graduates on or approaching the job market, “The promise of this information is the ability to connect real people with real jobs in real time,” according to the report’s lead author and center director, Anthony Carnevale. The use of online job ads as a proxy for labor demand presents a fundamental change in the way labor market information is captured and makes for an easier and more timely analysis.
The CEW found that while more populous states like California, Texas, New York and Florida have high numbers of job postings, additional information, such as job ads per college-educated worker, give a more accurate account of a state’s online job market. So how does Florida’s online college labor market rank?
Florida ranked 36th in the nation with an estimated .8 job postings for every 100 college graduated workers. While Florida has one of the largest online job markets for college graduates with more than 81,000 online job postings requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher, in relation to the number of college-educated workers already in Florida, it’s lower than many other states. This means job prospects in Florida for new college graduates are less favorable than for other states, such as Massachusetts, Delaware and Washington, in relation to online job ads.
Since each state is different, online job markets vary when looking at career fields. Florida, for example, has seen college jobs in the leisure and hospitality services sector increase 74% from 2010 to 2013. However, online job ads for Florida college workers declined in other occupational clusters such as wholesale and retail trade services (-20%).
In total, 40% of total job postings online in Florida are targeted to college graduates, or bachelor’s degree holders as defined by the authors of the report. Massachusetts leads the nation in online job openings for college graduates at 63%, with West Virginia ranking last at 36%.
To read the full report follow this link or go to their website.