US: The depressed history job market

This year's decline in academic jobs in history may be 15% or higher, according to preliminary data presented last weekend at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. The figures came as no surprise to graduate students there seeking jobs.

Reports abounded of job searches being called off, or of people in interviews being warned of the strong possibility that the openings might not be filled this year. People leaving the job interview area of the meeting were trading stories about which jobs might actually be filled. Job candidates who a year ago had goals of four or five interviews here were thrilled to have one.

Robert Townsend, the Association's assistant director for research and publications, said in a paper that the economic downturn's impact is affecting multiple generations of professors: some departments are reporting that professors who had planned to retire at the end of this academic year, but who had not formally started the process, have reversed course and announced they will stay - after departments started advertising for their positions, meaning more of the apparent openings may be phantom possibilities.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site