Well, it’s not surprising, but it may be a bit depressing. The Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communications Graduates confirms what we all expected – it’s harder to find a job these days.
…only 60.4% of the 2008 bachelor degree recipients had landed full-time employment about a half year after graduation. That is not only a steep drop from 2007, when 70.2% had jobs. It also represents the lowest employment level for grads in the 23-year history of the survey.
Women graduates were once again hired more frequently than male graduates, and minorities were again hired at lower rates than non-minorities. However, the gap between minorities and non-minorities decreased – in 2008 it was about 6% vs. 12% in 2007.
The survey also found that the need for journalism grads, in particular, to have online skills seems to be growing – 76.9% of those who found work in daily newspapers say they write or edit for the Web. In TV, that percentage is 64.6% – up about 10% from 2007 for both.
On a positive note, salaries seemed to hold pretty steady.
…in inflation-adjusted dollars, the bachelor’s degree recipients actually earned slightly more in 2008 than a year earlier.
The average salary for TV jobs was $24,000 a year, the lowest of all categories again this year. The highest average salary was in cable TV – $33, 800 per year. Web-related jobs came in second with average salaries of $33,000 annually.
Unfortunately, more graduates seem to be regretting their decision to get a degree in journalism and mass communications. In 2008, three out of every 10 expressed that view, up from 27.2% in 2007.
