Employers find themselves in a situation the mirror image of last year, when students had so many options that it was often difficult for firms to lure them in. Intel is not rescinding offers outright but is offering payments to prospective employees who decide not to go to work for the company. Intel would not specify the amount of the payment but said it would vary with the job and the salary offered. If new graduates come to Intel anyway, they may not end up in the position they were initially promised, a company spokesman said. A Cisco spokesman attributed the move to overall softness in the economy.
Some companies are pretty much sticking with their original hiring plans.
Similarly, Hewlett-Packard, which is in the midst of a restructuring involving the elimination of 3,000 jobs, reduced the number of people it is hiring but says it has not rescinded any offers. And companies have also shortened the length of their summer internship programs, which are an important way to recruit future employees, business school career advisers say. Mercer, like the investment firm Charles Schwab, canceled its summer program outright this year. With only one offer, you're inclined, in this economy, to take it, and it may not be the right position for you. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on May 5, 2001.