Corporate hiring plans point to promising employment prospects for graduates of MBA and business master’s programs, according to a new employer survey report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
Globally, 86 per cent of companies plan to hire recent MBA graduates this year, which was up from the 79 per cent hiring rate in 2016.
The survey revealed demand for MBA graduates was strongest in the United States and Asia-Pacific, where nine in 10 companies plan to hire these candidates.
“Despite the political uncertainty about the status of immigration and work visas in the United States and other parts of the world, companies are keen to hire graduates from this year’s MBA and business master’s programs, including international candidates,” GMAC CEOSangeet Chowfla said.
“This signifies the value these programs create for students and the vital role their skill sets bring employers.”
Most US companies (55 per cent) either planed to hire (28 per cent) or were open to hiring (27 per cent) an international candidate in 2017.
The technology industry in the US was the most likely to hire international business graduates this year. Half of US tech firms (50 percent) plan to hire such candidates in 2017.
This finding was a 27 percent increase from last year.
GMAC conducted the 16th annual Corporate Recruiters Survey in February and March 2017 together with survey partners EFMD and MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA), in association with 97 participating graduate business schools. Survey findings are based on responses from 959 employers representing more than 628 companies in 51 countries worldwide.
Two additional organisations, CEMS and RelishMBA, assisted with recruitment of survey participants.
Additional Key Findings
- The largest increase in hiring demand compared with 2016 is seen in the share of companies that plan to hire Master in Management graduates; globally, 59 per cent plan to hire recent Master in Management graduates, up nine percentage points from last year.
- Notably, 70 per cent of manufacturing companies plan to hire Master in Management graduates in 2017, up from 50 per cent of companies that hired them in 2016.
- Data analytics expertise continues to be in high demand. Sixty-nine percent of employers plan to place recent graduate business school hires into data analytics roles in 2017, trailing marketing, business development, and finance roles — each with 71 per cent.
More Start-Up Companies Plan to Hire B-School Grads This Year
For the first time, this year’s survey report breaks out the responses specifically among start-up companies, revealing a promising 2017 hiring outlook for business school graduates.
Three in four start-ups plan to hire recent MBA graduates in 2017, up from the 52 per cent that hired them in 2016. More start-ups also plan to make 2017 hires from graduates of Master in Management (37 per cent), Master of Accounting (23 per cent), and Master of Finance (25 per cent) programs.
