Strong Job Market For Class Of 2016

Source: MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, January 2016

The largest group of schools reporting upticks in on-campus recruiting estimated the increases to be between 6% and 10% (see above table). But slightly more than a quarter of the responding schools said the increases were between 11% and more than 20%. Some 17% of the schools said on-campus recruiting was flat.

One sign emerged that the MBA job market may have little more room for growth. That’s because most industries are showing smaller increases in on-campus recruiting compared to the previous year (see table below). In financial services, for example, the increase was just 27% this year versus 55% last year. In consulting, it was 48%, compared to 55% last year. In technology, the increase fell to 55% from 64%, while in consumer packaged goods companies, the increase dropped to just 16% from 38%. But the economic recovery in MBA recruiting, which began in 2011, is now five years long.

Not surprisingly, the industry with the biggest decrease in job opportunities is energy. With oil prices plunging and energy companies laying off employees, MBA recruiting by those firms has plummeted as well. Roughly 22% of the schools reported a decrease in the energy sector, with consumer packaged goods a distant second with 12% reporting a downturn.

MOST INDUSTRIES SHOWING SMALLER INCREASES

FOR FIRST TIME, REPORT INCLUDES SPECIALIZED MASTERS PROGRAMS

All told, 83 programs responded to the survey which was in the field from Dec. 9, 2015, to Jan. 8, 2016. The survey’s results were compared to the Fall 2014 survey fielded in January, 2015, when 77 schools responded. Roughly 78% of the schools responding to this latest survey are based in North America, while 85% said their MBA program was ranked in recent media rankings.

For the first time, the alliance also included part-time MBA programs and specialized master’s programs in its twice-a-year reports. Most schools indicated that on-campus recruiting is flat for part-time MBA students, with 46% reporting an increase, though 64% of schools saw an increase in job postings for part-timers. For the specialized masters programs, 55% saw an increase in both on-campus recruiting and full-time job postings (see table below).