Results of the 2024 US New Graduate Pay and Generation Z Compensation Survey

It’s exciting to recruit fresh talent, but many hiring managers are left scratching their heads with shifting preferences, setting graduate hiring salaries, or figuring out the perks that Gen Z find most valuable.

Instead of simply guessing, use real-world data to create job postings and employee perks that appeal to the up-and-coming generation.

With the 2024 US New Graduate and Generation Z Compensation Survey, you can make better, more informed HR decisions regarding hiring young talent. With data across 12 types of degrees and 15 disciplines, you can get your starting pay right. Take it even further with valuable insights into the top recruitment and compensation trends based on data from over 300 organizations nationwide.

The following relevant insights will give you an idea of what you can expect from this survey.

What job perks are Gen Z looking for?

Appealing workplace perks are very important to Gen Z. Employers typically offer perks related to workplace comfort, social interactions, personal needs, workplace amenities, and workplace culture.

These are the workplace perks most highly valued by both Gen Z and new graduates in each category:

• Comfort: Standing workstation, comfort/privacy rooms, break area activities, free snacks, and paid fitness/gym membership
• Social: Organized community service efforts, philanthropic giving programs, participation in corporate challenges, paid leave for volunteering, and regularly sponsored networking opportunities
• Personal: Flexible remote work/work from home, maternity/paternity leave, tolerance of facial hair, tuition reimbursement, and tolerance of fashion hair colors/tattoos/piercings
• Amenity: On-site fitness facilities, local business discounts, pet insurance, travel discounts, and technology discounts
• Culture: Compensation/competitive pay, challenging and rewarding work, recognition programs, career development programs, and respectful sharing of ideas and opinions

New graduate pay transparency is key

One key factor for attracting new graduates is pay transparency. According to a Business Indsider study, 85% of recent graduates are less likely to apply for a job if the salary range isn’t shared in the job posting.

In our US New Graduate and Generation Z Compensation Survey, we’ve seen an increase in the number of employers offering pay transparency to new graduate hires, growing from 37.6% in 2023 to 52% in 2024.

Starting salaries for new employees

Starting salaries vary by region and degree. The New Graduate and Generation Z Compensation Survey breaks down starting salaries by degree level and geographic region.

For example, if your business is located in the West Coast region and you hire someone with an Associate’s degree, the average starting salary or 2024 is $59,887, down from $65,514 in 2023. If someone has a Bachelor of Science degree, the average starting salary in the West Coast for 2024 is $80,131, which is an increase over the prior reported year.

The survey also breaks down compensation data by percentile so you can see how your starting salaries compare to those of others in your region and industry. You can also see specific data for various degree disciplines. For example, the average starting salary for someone with an engineering degree in the North Central region for 2024 is $76,340.

Recruiting strategies for Gen Z and new graduates

Many organizations actively recruit new graduates by visiting college and university campuses. In 2024, 87.6% of organizations said they would send recruiters to campuses to attract new graduates.

Some organizations are also reporting an increase in the number of new graduate hires. In our survey, 23% of organizations said they hired more new graduates, while 56.6% said there was no change from the previous year.

Here are some other recruiting strategies for hiring gen z and new graduates into the workforce:

• Interships & co-ops (we'll dive into this below)
• Social media
• Referral programs
• Alumi networking programs
• Mentorship programs
• Career fairs

Strategies for summer interns and co-op students

Many businesses use internsips and co-op (cooperative education program) students to expand their workforce and help young people learn new skills on the job.

So what's the difference between co-op students and interns?

If your organization hires co-op students and interns, have you updated your hiring or compensation policies recently?

Co-op students

A co-op is an education program that aims to combine a student's studies with real world experience in their related field. It is is typically a full semester (or longer) and offers students acedemic credit for their work. In our recent survey, 83.1% of organizations reported paying their co-op students monetarily. Another 13.5% offered money and course credits. In 2023, only 33.3% of companies said they offered their co-op students employee benefits.  In 2024, the number of co-op students offered employee benefits increased to 46.6%.

Internships

An internship is usually shorter, lasting from a week to a few months (often during the summer). Internships are less structured than co-ops and aim to offer the interns a broader view of a company or industry. While some organizations still have unpaid internships, our survey showed that 94.3% of businesses are paying their interns monetarily. Another 4.3% are paying their interns with money and course credits. A unique offering for many internship programs is summer housing assistance — 26.7% of survey respondents said they offered this to their interns.

Take your new hire pay strategy further with data from Mercer

If you are still using hiring strategies that worked for older generations, you might end up striking out as you try to hire Generation Z. Your organization must have the right value proposition and total rewards package to attract this new, young talent.

This primarily starts with competitive new hire pay. To ensure your Generation Z pay is attractive, use the data available in Mercer’s latest US New Graduate and Generation Z Compensation Survey.

To learn more about this and other surveys, call Mercer today at 855-286-5302 or email us at surveys@mercer.com.