[C]OLCHESTER — New information from the Vermont Department of Labor and St. Michael’s College says the college’s students are making decisions on whether to stay in Vermont or leave based on job availability.
Gov. Peter Shumlin announced results from two surveys at a news conference Thursday flanked by a 2015 graduate who has a professional job in Vermont and representatives from Burlington-area companies that have job openings.
“We’re trying to tell the story,” Shumlin said. “It’s a myth that we do not have jobs for young people in Vermont. The facts are that we have jobs.”
Shumlin said there are thousands of open jobs in Vermont at dozens of employers who are “clamoring” for graduates, and that many of the jobs available are high-paying. Some starting salaries are in the $90,000 to $100,000 range, he said.
More than 100 employers attended a job fair on Sept. 15. Annie Noonan, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, said those employers had more than 2,000 openings, largely in health care and advanced manufacturing sectors.
About 223 students responded to the surveys announced Thursday. About half graduated in 2015; the other half are scheduled to graduate in 2016. In both cases, students were most likely to cite the job market as a major factor in deciding where to live.
The Labor Department will finalize the results in November, according to Mathew Barewicz, the state’s labor market information chief. Barewicz said the surveys only represent St. Michael’s students who voluntarily responded. More women answered the surveys than men.
Among the preliminary results:
• Forty percent of the class of 2015 St. Michael’s students who responded stayed in Vermont when they graduated, and 60 percent left. The top four reasons for staying were job availability, having the “Vermont experience,” being close to their family members, and being close to friends or a romantic partner.
• Thirty-seven percent of the class of 2015 who left said there was a “reported lack of job availability.” Another 49.3 percent of those leaving said they wanted to move back home, and 9.8 percent wanted to live somewhere else.
• Thirty-two percent of the class of 2016 said they did not plan to stay in Vermont. Twenty-five percent said they would stay. Forty-three percent were unsure.
• Among those in the class of 2016 who said they were planning to leave, 38 percent there were a “reported lack of available jobs.”
• Ninety percent of respondents in both the classes of 2015 and 2016 said Vermont was a “favorable place to be happy.” Some said Vermont was favorable for its social scene, natural amenities, political climate, and environment for raising a family.
Louise Gibbs, from Shelburne, attended the news conference to tell her story. Gibbs graduated from St. Michael’s in 2015 with a B.A. in economics and started an entry-level coordinator job at a financial services firm last month.
“I was born here,” she said. “I’ve never lived anywhere else. I love (Lake Champlain). I wouldn’t do summer anywhere else.”
Gibbs said she never had the perception that she couldn’t get a job in Vermont after graduation. She said one of the hard parts of applying for work is that so many jobs ask for one or two years of experience, and it’s hard knowing that 1,000 other people could be filling out the same online application.
St. Michael’s is a private liberal arts college with about 2,000 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students. About 12 percent of students are non-white. Undergraduate tuition with room and board is about $50,000, and 98 percent receive some form of financial aid.
Only 20 percent of St. Michael’s students are from Vermont, according to Karen Tarentino, the vice president for academic affairs. About 40 percent are from Massachusetts, Tarentino said.
