Strong MBA Hiring Forecast In New GMAC Survey Of Recruiters

For MBA students, it’s easy to get lost in the struggles of one industry or another when you contemplate the hiring landscape you will graduate into. But overall, it continues to be good to have an MBA in today’s market.

That’s the takeaway from the Graduate Management Admission Council’s annual survey of employers, released today (July 1), which finds that widespread economic concerns haven’t dampened recruiters’ enthusiasm for graduates of global MBA programs. GMAC reports that its 2024 Corporate Recruiters Survey shows employer confidence in business schools’ ability to prepare grads to be successful in their organizations has risen to new heights — and that is especially true in light of the rise of artificial intelligence, which has thrown into sharp relief the value of the kind of human skills that B-school can hone.

“As disruptive technologies like generative AI reshape the labor market and the skill economy expands, employers are putting a premium on strategic thinking, people leadership, and problem-solving while betting on the rising importance of tech prowess,” says Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC, in a news release accompanying the release of the survey.

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Joy Jones, CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council: “Ggraduate business programs continue to be uniquely positioned — and trusted for their ability — to develop business talent”

GMAC has conducted its Corporate Recruiters Survey for more than 20 years, driving the conversation between what recruiters want and what global B-schools provide. This year’s survey, conducted between January and March 2024, was __ in partnership with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and the MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA); 931 corporate recruiters and hiring managers from staffing firms in 38 countries participated.

The chief finding: Concerns about inflation and recession risk have had no negative effect on employer confidence in graduate business education and its ability to prepare graduates to be successful in their organizations. That confidence has reached new heights since the pandemic across key industries including consulting, finance and accounting, and technology — and that translates to a rosy hiring forecast, with a majority of global recruiters saying they plan steady or expanding hiring in 2024, and one-third expecting to hire more MBA graduates than last year.

Employers’ renewed confidence in alumni of graduate business programs is reflected in the growing number who say B-school grads tend to outperform their other employees, fast-track to upper-level positions, and earn more than other employees, a share that has grown in recent years despite — or perhaps due to — the rapid rise of technologies like generative AI. Most employers responding to GMAC’s poll do not see the predicted changes hitting their workplaces just yet; but when they were asked which skills will be most important in five years, AI ranked high across regions and industries.

Crucially, employers around the globe have consistently said they value problem-solving and strategic thinking as the top skills for graduates of both today and tomorrow.

“To achieve success, future business leaders will need to harness technological advancements and possess the knowledge and experience to manage the change brought on by these evolutions,” Jones says. “This year’s Corporate Recruiters Survey affirms that graduate business programs continue to be uniquely positioned — and trusted for their ability — to develop business talent with increasingly relevant and cutting-edge skills, who are equipped to tackle new and perennial challenges with a balance of tech and human understanding.”

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Employers’ confidence is growing not only in MBAs’ skillsets — it is also growing in the ability of B-school grads to navigate hybrid and remote work situations. About two-thirds of employers say the skills gained through graduate business education are more important in today’s hybrid world of work — almost double the share who answered a similar question in 2021 at the peak of the pandemic. However, that confidence does not (yet) extend to the value of remote learning such as online MBA programs.

Overall, two-thirds of employers say they still believe in-person programs impart stronger technical skills than online programs, and nearly three quarters of global employers agree in-person programs impart stronger leadership and communication skills. But in the U.S., where resistance to remote learning has historically been strongest, that resistance may be thawing: U.S. employers “are warming up to the idea that in-person degrees do not necessarily have a leg up on online programs when it comes to development of the above-mentioned skills,” GMAC writes.

CHECK OUT P&Q’S 2024 RANKING OF ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS

ASIA & WESTERN EUROPE EMPLOYERS HIRING MORE INTERNATIONAL JOB-SEEKERS

The above may also contribute to the strong hiring projections that stem from employer optimism about the global economic outlook, despite inflation and recession concerns. Employers reported to GMAC a major or moderate influence of inflation and recession on hiring, but remain optimistic about employment opportunities for business grads. Consulting, along with finance and accounting sectors, are projected to hire more MBA graduates in 2024, and data and business analytics hiring are expected to expand the most this year.

U.S. employers expressed the most conservatism about hiring expansion this year, while employers in Asia report the highest intended hiring across degree types. Meanwhile, hurdles to international hiring outside the U.S. are falling: “Employers in major markets in Asia, as well as Western Europe, also demonstrated significant growth in international hiring — employment of those who require additional legal documentation — compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2018,” GMAC writes.

“We know that international education, and subsequent international employment opportunities, brings tremendous economic and social benefits to a campus and a country,” says Martin Boehm, rector and professor of marketing at EBS Universitӓt für Wirtschaft und Recht in Germany and a board member of GMAC. “It is encouraging to see the positive impact of international student recruitment by increasing diversity and enrollment from abroad. We remain committed to growing our graduates of cross-cultural competencies and their global employability.”

See GMAC’s complete 2024 survey results here.

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