Many of those who leave eventually come back, said Karin Ash, the university's director of career services. It's not just graduates bound for high-tech industries who are leaving. Most of its graduates are drawn to big cities by jobs in finance, communications and consulting, Mullane said. There aren't very many jobs in my area in New York. Foote, a native of Rome, isn't lamenting the likely move.
Some graduates make it a priority to stay in New York, even upstate.
Kane, who plans to go to work in Rochester as an analyst for the human resources consultant William Mercer, said the city offers plenty of night life and cultural opportunities. The state has taken steps to reverse the trend, from cutting taxes to keep and attract businesses to creating an Internet site that lists high-tech job openings. Some think job growth in the last half of the 1990s shows these strategies are working. Attracting this age group requires good income opportunities. Thousands of young adults left New York in the 1990s, draining the state of a vital source of workers, according to new figures from the 2000 Census.