August 27, 2016

Survey shows graduate business degrees remain valued by employers

The 2016 Corporate Recruiters Survey Report by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the owner and administrator of the GMAT exam, found that companies worldwide continue to express high levels of hiring demand for business school graduates in 2016. Business school career service offices attract corporate recruiters who are ready to hire business school graduates.

Results from the survey demonstrate the value that employers continue to place on MBA talent. Hiring demand for recent MBA graduates is strong and growing, as demonstrated both by the increased percentage of employers planning to hire these candidates in 2016 compared with last year and the year-on-year rise in the share of employers that plan to hire MBA graduates over time. This is a sign of the resilience of the MBA degree in the marketplace, especially since the bottom of the Great Recession five years ago, when MBA hiring was down and many questioned the value of the degree.

Employers not only seek business school graduates to fill management positions, but also see them as a valuable source of talent to fill information technology and management information systems, supply chain management, and data analytics functions, among others. Median starting base salaries continue to rise for all candidates and, depending upon degree type, often may be more than double those offered to recent bachelor's degree holders.

Importantly, the findings in the report continue to demonstrate the powerful resource that business school career service offices serve in connecting their school's MBA talent with the companies seeking to hire them. Business schools attract employers who are in need of talent to build their leadership, support company growth, and bring innovative thinking and business acumen to their operations.

"We closely cooperate with schools and constantly receive feedback from recently hired MBAs to understand the values they are seeking in employment and how we can match our business needs with their expectations to achieve synergy," said a European manufacturer.

Additionally, a U.S. products and services employer said that they have worked hard to get buy-in from all areas of the company "on understanding the value of having MBAs from top-tier schools."

One of the key findings in the report is that 88 percent of corporate recruiters who work directly with participating graduate business schools plan to hire recent MBA graduates in 2016, compared with 80 percent of companies that actually hired MBAs in 2015.

Furthermore, a greater percentage of companies in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Latin America and the U.S. plan to hire MBAs in 2016 compared with those who did so in 2015.

The job forecast for this year's class of MBAs and non-MBA graduates reflects current marketplace realities and employer expectations for their company's overall business direction. Globally, a majority of employers report their companies will be focused on growth and expansion in 2016. Some 69 percent of employers in the Asia-Pacific region said that they intend to expand in 2016, while the numbers stand at 64 percent for employers in Europe, 54 percent for those in Latin America and 69 percent in the U.S.

The report is based on the responses received from 842 employers representing more than 530 companies in 40 countries worldwide, including firms from the Asia-Pacific region, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. that work directly with participating business schools.

Excerpts from GMAC's "The 2016 Corporate Recruiters Survey Report"

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