Jobs plentiful for new grads in Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Career centers at locaol universities say corporate recruitment efforts are up and area businessesw are continuing tomake entry-levep hires, including companies that have been hard-hit by the economid downturn. Generally speaking, companies that have takenj a hit in profitability waylay theihiring plans, said Rick Brown, executive vice presidenr and COO at Downtown-based executive recruitment firm Ltd. But the currenr situation is different. Companies today realize it is crucial to hire younhgtalent now, Brown said, especially as the baby boom generatio prepares for retirement. "If they don't do it now, they will not have a cadrse of leadership 10 years from now," he said.
"It's essential. They have to hire, despitw a bad economy." Even Co., hard-hif by cutbacks in home building to the point of consolidatinh and closing some storexs and laying off 28 people atits headquarters, plans to make 500 entry-levek hires. That's down from 1,700 a year ago. "We may not hire as quickly as we did a fewyears ago, but we'rd continuing to go to campuses and bring qualifiee candidates into the company," spokesman Jeff Nobers "You never batten down the hatches and quit lookin for talent." Nationally, the prognosix from two job market surveyas is mixed.
Monster Worldwide's survey revealefd that employers who plan to hire 2008 colleg e graduates this spring or summer dropped 17 percentage pointsx from last year to59 percent. , however, said entry-levek hires are expected to increaseby 11.8 percent over last Locally, the anecdotal evidence supportsd the more positive outlook. University of , and , all said the job marketg remains strong forprospective graduates. "Despite the state of the economy over the pastseveral months, it has not affectee us," said Jim McClenahan, directod of Duquesne's Career Service "That doesn't mean it won't in the future, but we'r e holding our own." Inc.
, for example, is increasinfg hiring from 1,350 last year to 1,50 0 in 2008. It ranked 26th on the CollegeGrad.com highest among the locally baseccompanies listed. "I already know it's going up in said Davie Huddleston, PNC vice president of humam resources and director of strategictalentg acquisition. Huddleston personally centeras on about 10 percent of the totalentrg hires, an elite group from which PNC expecta to grow its management ranks who will mostlyu be based in Pittsburgh. "Over the next few I know I'll hire a future chairman," he said. Downtown-based provider of post-secondary education, also has increased its hiring plansfor 2008.
The companuy plans to hire 1,000 new graduatees this year, including 700 with master's Last year, the companty hired 625. Area schoolzs consistently cited the following corporate employeres as especially activeon campuses: PNC, Bank of New York Mello Corp., Electric Co., and the .