Corporate recruiters in southeast Asia, including Australia, plan to expand hiring for all types of postgraduate management degree holders this year, with well over one-third expected to expand hiring of data and business analytics graduates, according to new research by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
The research all showed MBAs remain the highest paid of all postgraduate management degree holders, followed Master of Finance and Master of Data Analytics degree holders.
“Employers’ increasing confidence in GME (Graduate Management Education) graduates is translating to actual and projected increases in hiring,” the report said.
“Hiring trends from 2023 show that demand continues to be highest for generalist talent like MBA and bachelor’s graduates as well as experienced industry professionals.
“Despite concerns about inflation or recession risk, employers project a larger share of hiring across degree types, with expanded hiring most likely to occur for data and business analytics graduates.
“Increasing confidence in GME programs and the strategic alignment of business schools with industry needs suggests a positive outlook for graduates entering the workforce.”
The report, entitled Corporate Recruiters Survey, gathered insights from nearly 1,000 company recruiters and staffing firms, spread across over 30 different countries. It focuses on current trends in skills demand, hiring, compensation, and perceptions of MBA and business master’s graduates.
The report investigates the recruitment plans of corporate firms – 51% of which are from the Global Fortune 500 – for business school graduates across a range of sectors such as manufacturing, technology, finance, consulting, and more.
The findings showed that 65% of East & Southeast Asian employers planned to hire more MBA graduates over the next five years, despite the effects of external factors like inflation, increased cost of living and geopolitical tensions. And just 1% of employers predict a decrease in MBA grad hiring.
SOURCE: GMAC 2024 Coporate Recruiters Survey
Other key takeaways of the report include:
- Most employers are not too concerned about AI for today’s GME grads, but its importance is expected to grow—and soon.
- AI-concerned employers want GME graduates to use AI as a strategic partner in learning and strategy—not as a source for more and faster content.
- Roughly two-thirds of employers believe full business degrees are more effective for employee success than micro-credentials. This preference has remained relatively stable since it was first measured in 2022.
- Employers say the top three most important skills for current GME graduates are problem-solving, communication, and strategic thinking—with general consensus across regions.
- Employers predict continued importance of strategic thinking and problem-solving in the next five years, with increasing importance in technology and the ability to leverage AI, innovation, and global business.
- Despite nearly three-quarters of employers reporting major or moderate influence of inflation and recession fears on their hiring decisions, more than a quarter of employers plan to expand their hiring of GME graduates in 2024, with a plurality planning steady hiring across degree types.
The researchers also surveyed companies on all macro-economic factors that are likely to be influencing their hiring decisions. Globally, businesses cited the financial status, inflation and recession fears as the biggest factors influencing hiring. Additionally, international and national conflicts, public health issues and the policies made by country leaders were all likely to impact hiring in 2024.
“Geopolitical tensions, increased adoption of new technologies and of course the covid pandemic have all had a dramatic impact on global economic conditions in recent years”, says Nalisha Patel, Regional Director for Europe at GMAC.
“Inflation has been one result of the ever-increasing volatile environment we live and work in, and has also contributed to that volatility itself. Though we are seeing inflation impact global hiring, we are also seeing positives signs for business school graduate’s future careers, with inflation slightly decreasing and job hiring looking likely to increase in 2024”
A more in-depth look at the impact of inflation on hiring across various regions, found that in Western Europe, just 30% of companies said they were seeing inflation have a major influence on their hiring plans – the exact same figure as the global average.
Developing regions such as Africa (57%) and East and Southeast Asia (42%) experienced higher impacts on hiring from inflation than the global average. Whilst employers based in the United States faced the lowest influence of inflation on hiring, at just 18%.
The Corporate Recruiters Survey, now in its 20th year, is an annual GMAC survey that helps business schools and students understand employers’ skills demands and hiring cycles. The report can be downloaded via this link.
