October 20, 2015

MBA job trends in Japan, Asia and the rest of the world

What can be learned from the QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends Report 2015/16?

Every year, QS carries out a global survey of actively hiring employers from around the world in order to get a global snapshot of MBA hiring. The results are compiled into the "QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends Report" (which can be downloaded for free at www.TopMBA.com), which breaks down the findings by region and by industry. We also ask employers what skills they expect their MBA hires to possess, and how satisfied they are that the people they recruit are in possession of said skills. Oh, and we ask them about the small issue of how much they pay too.

A wide range of careers are open to MBA graduates. SHUTTERSTOCK

So what have we learned from this year's report? Globally speaking it has been a positive year, with an impressive 14 percent growth in MBA jobs. This is in line with the average level of growth QS research has found over the past 25 years, showing that the MBA is in as good health as it ever has been — particularly positive when read in light of the huge increases in provision and the concomitant expansion of the pool of qualified MBAs. That demand continues to rise reflects a degree that is still held in high regard by those whose opinions really matter — employers.

Perhaps one reason that this growth has been able to continue at the levels at which we've seen is the diversification of the degree, those who study them and the employers who hire them. Once, the MBA was very much considered to be a gateway to a role in a large consultancy firm or in the financial services sector. This can no longer said to be the case. The "QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey 2015" (also available for free at www.TopMBA.com), based upon a global survey of prospective MBAs, shows that while consulting and finance are the still the options chosen by the greatest proportion of respondents (respondents can make multiple choices so it is natural that large proportions would opt for the "safe" options of these two sectors), with technology cementing its status as the third big MBA career path, MBA applicants are open to a wide range of careers. They are also coming from a diverse range of industries — no one sector accounts for more than 12.6 percent of respondents' current jobs (and this sector is technology).

Jobs increasingly diverse

We see this diversity reflected in the MBA jobs market. The respondents to the survey on which the report is based — all actively hiring MBA employers — represent a hugely diverse range of industries, ranging from the public sector to hospitality to pharmaceuticals, as well as traditional hiring sectors such as finance, consulting and technology. Though many of these sectors are on the smaller side, taken collectively they account for a good proportion of the MBA jobs on offer, with some even individually accounting for not-insignificant chunks of overall MBA hiring (it should be noted that given the self-selecting nature of the survey, we must read the findings as illustrative rather than precise).

The most rapid growth globally has come from industries that fall into the industry and non-professional services bracket — and we anticipate, based on what employers have told us, that this will continue to be the case over the next few years. Employers from more and more sectors are coming to see the advantages of hiring MBAs in an age where getting a competitive advantage is harder and harder — and maintaining it even more so. Getting people on board with the wide-ranging and deep business expertise that comes with MBA study can certainly be advantageous. We should qualify this by adding that, in terms of functional roles, it is still consulting, marketing, finance and strategy jobs into which MBAs are predominately hired across industries — and, of course, general management. While MBAs are being recruited over a wide range of sectors, it is still for those essential MBA skills they are being hired.

Mature markets

It has also been a very good year for traditional MBA-hiring sectors, with 24 percent growth globally in consulting jobs, far in excess of the 8 percent predicted. Smaller growth (in a larger sector) of 9 percent in financial services MBA jobs can also be read as encouraging in the light of the difficult times endured in recent years. Growth in the U.S. and Canada of 17 percent is particularly positive, and has played a part in hugely impressive growth in the two nations. In total, MBA job opportunities have risen by 26 percent in the world's most mature MBA market. And in a development that will please MBA applicants and candidates around the world, 38 percent of the employer respondents are hiring on a global level, open to the idea that the perfect candidate for a job may not be from within the region. This puts the U.S. and Canada on a par with Western Europe in terms of global outlook.

It has been a good year for the world's other mature MBA market, with Western Europe MBA employers reporting overall growth of 9 percent in MBA jobs. Sure, it's not as good as the figures across the Atlantic, but given the consistent turmoil in which the region has been in since the events of the Great Recession, one would have to be particularly churlish not to see how good a result this is. Predicted growth, it should be said, was 3 percent, if that helps to put this into context a little more.

Asia-Pac growth continues

While the world's two most mature MBA markets have suffered from a couple of years of sluggish growth, the standout story of recent times has been the Asia-Pacific region. This includes South, East and Southeast Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands (the Middle East is grouped with Africa and Central Asia with Eastern Europe). Employers in the region have displayed a seemingly insatiable thirst for MBAs. Six of the world's top-20 countries by the sheer volume of MBA jobs are in the region: India, Singapore, South Korea, China, Japan and Pakistan.

Because of these high levels, we had anticipated a slower year over 2014/15, with a more sustainable growth level of 8 percent. We have been, happily, proved wrong. Employers in the region increased MBA hiring by no less than 18 percent over 2014/15. Technology has been the driving force behind growth in Asia-Pacific over the past few years. This year, however, consulting, industry and non-professional services are the standout sectors in terms of growth; the financial services industry has also outpaced technology industries (we include IT, high tech, telecoms and aerospace in this grouping).

This demonstrates, as it does globally, the diversification of the Asian MBA market, and its growing maturity. India and China are the leading drivers of growth, with the landscape in the latter coming to resemble more closely that of a more mature MBA job market in the larger proportions of consulting and finance roles that are on offer. In South Korea, as one might expect, it is high tech jobs that predominate, while in Singapore it is financial services and IT jobs that account for the largest proportion of hiring. In Pakistan, the presence of which in this list once again confirming the esteem in which the MBA is held in South Asia, it is into the industry and non-professional service space that most MBAs are hired.

Mixed year for Japan

This also applies in Japan, with manufacturing/engineering the largest single sector. Growth in this space means that it has actually been a relatively good year for MBA hiring in the country, with a total increase of 17 percent. We predict that we will see more growth next year, albeit at the more modest rate of 8 percent. Despite this, we have seen a slight dip in the average MBA salaries on offer, which now stand at $65,200 when bonuses are taken into account. In the region as whole, on the other hand, we see improved offers being made; reported average salary and bonus levels in the Asia-Pacific now stand at a very impressive $95,200 (again, we must read the self-selecting nature of our survey into this — these figures should not be read as exact representations of what is being offered).

So, there have been ups and downs. Naturally, we cannot expect every year to be completely positive; the business world is too complex for such a simple narrative. And, as no one needs to be told, it has been a tough few years, in which upheaval has become the norm. It seems, though, that the MBA is truly resilient qualification; one which produces the kind of graduates for which employers are always looking. If you are looking to boost your employability, there can be few better graduate degrees.

Written by Mansoor Iqbal, an editor at TopMBA.com. The QS World MBA Tour is coming to Tokyo on Oct. 27, bringing the top global business schools together for an evening of networking and seminars. For more information and registration, visit www.topmba.com/events/qs-world-mba-tour/asia/tokyo.