FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
John Ikenberry, Ph.D.
President and Co-Founder
328 Innovation Boulevard, Suite 300
State College, PA 16803
Phone: 814-861-3080 (Ext. 202)
www.higheredjobs.com
johni@higheredjobs.com

Higher Education Bucking Job Loss Trend

May 18, 2009, State College, PA – While the U.S. experienced significant overall job loss over the past 18 months, employment in higher education continues to be relatively stable and actually showed a recent up-tick, according to a new quarterly employment report published by HigherEdJobs.com, a leading source for jobs in academia.

An analysis of U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data reveals that the total number of jobs in the U.S. economy decreased by 4.2 percent during the first quarter of 2009. By contrast, the total number of jobs in higher education increased by 4.3 percent during that same time period.

The jobs are there, explained John Ikenberry, president and co-founder of HigherEdJobs.com, in part because the students are there. “Student enrollment typically increases during an economic downturn as individuals head back to school to better their career prospects,” Ikenberry said.

"While state appropriations and endowment income are down at many institutions, tuition revenue should be flat if not increasing at some institutions. These offsetting revenue sources may be allowing some schools to afford a more moderate approach to downsizing their payrolls," he said.

As encouraging as HigherEdJobs.com’s findings may be, the sector is still feeling the impact of the global economic downturn.

While the total number of jobs in higher education has remained stable, the number of job openings in the sector has decreased significantly, according to an analysis of HigherEdJobs.com's job posting data in the first quarter of 2009. Institutions on the company’s unlimited posting plan, which have no financial disincentive to posting multiple job openings, posted 39.1% fewer jobs during Q1 2009 compared to the previous year.

"Moreover, colleges and universities appear to be adjusting their staffing blend," said Ikenberry. "They are concentrating their hiring on faculty instead of administrative jobs and they are increasing their reliance on part-timers."

HigherEdJobs.com is the leading source for jobs in academia. During 2008, more than 2,900 colleges and universities posted over 67,000 faculty, administrative and executive job postings to the company’s website. HigherEdJobs.com is visited over two million times each month. Founded in 1996, HigherEdJobs.com’s mission is to help higher education professionals and employers connect with one another to fulfill their career and organizational goals.

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To view the complete report, go to: www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm?q=1&y=2009