Where India’s MBAs Most Want To Work

The fast-moving consumer goods market is one of the fastest growing industries in India. From 2011 to 2016, the FMCG sector grew from $31.6 billion to $49 billion. It is now the fourth-largest sector in India’s economy, led largely by household and personal care products. The industry is predicted to turbo-charge to $220 billion by 2025. It’s also the industry most Indian MBAs want to work in, according to a study published earlier this week.

The survey — published by the research firm Nielsen India — asked more than 1,100 graduating students from 36 Indian business schools which industries and companies they wanted to work within. Nearly half (46%) said they wished to work in the FMCG industry.

“The FMCG sector is poised to grow at a healthy rate of more than double digits over the next few years. This is manifested in the increasing trend of recruitment in the sector amongst top B-schools as well as students’ increasing interest in pursuing a career in this sector,” Nielsen India’s Executive Director, Sanjay Pal, said in a statement.

FMCG TOPS SURVEY FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 2014

Following FMCG at 43% is banking and financial services. Automobile (34%), consulting (31%), and e-commerce (29%) rounded out the top five most popular industries for graduating Indian MBAs. It’s the first time FMCG topped the annual survey since 2014. After peaking as the most popular industry in 2015 and 2016, e-commerce continues to fall. It’s also very different from elite MBA programs in the United States, which largely put students into financial services, consulting, and technology.

In terms of specific companies Indian MBAs most want to work for, consulting giant McKinsey tops the list, with 195 respondents saying they wish to work for the company. Following closely was Google, which had a score of 189.

India’s largest consumer goods firm, Hindustan Unilever, tied for third with Goldman Sachs. According to the research, Hindustan Unilever is the most applied-to company on the list. ITC Limited, a cigarette manufacturing company rounded out the top five.

McKinsey’s India-based offices hire more than 100 new consultants from Indian universities every year, according to its website. Along with HUL and ITC, Procter & Gamble and Reckkit Benckiser make up the four consumer goods companies among the top 10 companies. Consulting, banking and financial services, and technology each have two companies represented in the top 10.

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