The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) has released the results for the 2022 Corporate Recruiters Survey. The nearly 1,000 global respondents, which included both staffing firms and corporate recruiters, described a highly favorable hiring outlook for business school graduates.
Below we’ve highlighted key findings. You can find the full results summary here.
Hiring Outlook Is Strongly Favorable
Most respondents said they expect to hire MBAs this year—92 percent of corporate recruiters and 95 percent of staffing firms. In comparison with past surveys, this represents a highly favorable environment for graduates.
63 percent of respondents expect international demand for business school graduates to increase over the next five years, with just about two percent expecting a decrease in demand. In the U.S. the outlook was slightly less optimistic, but still positive with 46 percent of corporate recruiters expecting demand to increase in the next five years. Just over half, 51 percent, expect demand to remain stable, while about three percent expect a decrease.
Rebound in International Mobility
A larger number of recruiters are open to making international hires this year. 56 percent of respondents said they are planning to or willing to make an international hire, compared to just 48 percent in 2021. Just under one-third, 35 percent, said that they currently have plans to make an international hire, compared with 24 percent last year.
Recruiters Believe Business School Prepares Hires for Success
Just under 90 percent of respondents reported confidence that business schools prepare students for success within their organization. When asked about the reasoning behind their confidence, most noted that graduates have: strong communication skills (73 percent), versatile skill sets (68 percent), and strategic thinking skills (66 percent).
U.S. recruiters ranked as the most confident in business school graduates globally with 50 percent noting highly confident and 42 percent noting confident.
Recruiters from large, public companies reported higher confidence in business school graduates than those from smaller organizations. Among the Global Fortune 100 companies, 47 percent reported high confidence, compared with 24 percent from recruiters located within smaller organizations (<100 employees).
Industry recruiters in consulting and technology were the most likely to report high confidence in business school graduates, whereas nonprofit and government recruiters were the least likely to report high confidence.
Salaries Remain Steady for MBAs and Increase Amongst Specialized Business Degrees
While median starting salaries for MBAs are higher than for other new hires, the median planned offers remained consistent between 2021 and 2022.
Within the US, recruiters said that they plan to offer higher median starting salaries this year when compared to last year for some business masters degrees: Master of Accounting (median increased 25K compared to 2021), Master of Finance (increased 15K), Master of Data Analytics (increased 10K). Median salaries for Master of Management and Master of Business Analytics remained consistent with 2021.
Recruiters also noted that their companies are updating benefits packages to appeal to younger employees; 32 percent of recruiters said that they offer loan repayment assistance, and 40 percent called out the addition of corporate volunteering to their benefits package.
U.S. Remains Least Likely World Region to View Online and In-Person Degrees Equally
Globally, respondents in 2022 were more likely to view graduates of online business programs as equivalent to graduates of in-person programs (60 percent) when compared to last year. In 2021 just 34 percent agreed that they view graduates equally.
The U.S. lags in this assessment with just 29 percent of respondents agreeing that they view graduates equally (a decrease from 33 percent in 2021).
Those who viewed online programs as equal to in-person were slightly more likely to emphasize the importance of specific knowledge/skill areas. Those who did not view the programs equally were more likely to emphasize the importance of interpersonal/soft skills.