Baton Rouge Reporter

Baton Rouge, La. (November 16, 2022) – The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) today released the year two progress report on the organization’s partnership with LSU and Southern University to retain graduates in the region by connecting students to local career opportunities through the Handshake platform. The report card is available online at brac.org/research.

“The Baton Rouge Area has an enormous asset in its higher education institutions, producing thousands of educated talent each year, and dedicated partnerships like this between the business community and higher education institutions are key to retaining that talent,” said Adam Knapp, BRAC president & CEO. “We’ve seen in this year’s Handshake Report Card an increase in local job and internship postings, but there is still room to grow. Every business in the Capital Region should be taking advantage of this platform by activating a free employer account and hiring their interns and entry level employees through it.” 

Key takeaways from this year’s report include: 

• Between September 2021 and September 2022, employer account activation increased 32% for LSU and 42% for Southern; 
• Internship listings on Handshake increased from 307 to 515 at LSU and from 5 to 29 at Southern; 
• The highest concentration of jobs posted on the LSU system continue to be in construction, oil & gas, and staffing and recruiting, whereas the highest concentration of jobs posted on the Southern system continue to be in government, non-profit, and healthcare; 
• 50.5% of LSU undergraduate students have an active profile, while 25.9% of Southern undergraduate students have an active profile; 
• As of September 2022, the top three colleges by activation rate at LSU are College of Coast and Environment (62%), College of Agriculture (63%), and College of Humanities and Social Sciences (59%); 
• As of September 2022, the top three colleges by activation rate at Southern are College of Science and Engineering (35%), College of Agriculture, Family and Consumer Sciences (33%), and College of Business (27%). 

Since the initial partnership announcement with LSU and Southern in September of 2020, BRAC facilitated transitioning the LCTCS system and FranU onto the Handshake platform, making the Capital Region the only metro in the country with all traditional four-year and two-year institutions aligned behind a single recruitment platform. The year three Handshake Report Card will include data from the new educational institutions that have since joined the partnership. 

Key priorities going into 2023 include driving greater student activation across campuses and individual colleges, educating employers to activate recruiting at all available regional institutions, and increased internship opportunities for current students. 

Regional businesses are encouraged to create a free employer account on Handshake and utilize the system for recruiting interns and entry-level employees from all the region’s higher education institutions. Employers can post jobs for free, browse on-campus career events, interview opportunities and get matched to students who meet their job opportunities. More information about Handshake, resources for creating internship programs, and BRAC services related to talent attraction and retention are available at brac.org/handshake.  

About the Baton Rouge Area Chamber  

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) is an aggressively ambitious regional economic development organization with a bias for action. BRAC seeks to push Baton Rouge beyond the status quo, unleash its potential, and support a vibrant business community that believes the finish line does not exist. BRAC seeks to accelerate economic opportunity in the Baton Rouge Area, for everyone, through BRING IT! Baton Rouge, its five-year, regional strategic plan. Learn more about BRAC at brac.org. 

Original source can be found here.