Tech & AI Are Soaring Up The List Of Most Important Skills Recruiters Want From MBAs: Survey

For now, at least, the AI train keeps rolling along — in no small part because employers of MBAs and specialized business master’s remain on board.

The Graduate Management Admission Council’s annual Corporate Recruiters Survey, released in early July, shows a number of fascinating things about the employment landscape for business school graduates — particularly that employer confidence in business schools’ ability to prepare grads for successful careers has risen to new heights in 2024.

The question is, what will most likely make hiring companies happiest to find in a prospective employee in the next five years? GMAC has an answer for that, too — and tech and AI skills sit near the top of a long list.

EXPERTISE IN AI ‘VITAL FOR EFFICIENCY & COMPETITIVENESS,’ EMPLOYERS SAY

Signs suggest the AI bubble may be about to burst, but that isn’t dissuading employers that “do not want to be left behind by an ongoing industrial revolution, one based on automations and more data,” says Nalisha Patel, Europe regional director at GMAC. “This is driving the skills employers are expecting to prioritize.”

As AI and automation dominate business operations, “expertise in these areas is vital for efficiency and competitiveness,” Patel says. “Organizations are recognizing that they need employees who can leverage these technologies effectively. Recruiters are also adjusting their focus to address a more volatile global business environment, where resilience, adaptability and grit are essential.”

According to GMAC’s survey, which is based on responses from nearly 1,000 corporate recruiters and staffing firms around the world, “tech/IT” skills will be the third-most in demand over the next half-decade, jumping from 14th when the question was asked in 2023. “AI” skills are No. 4, having leaped from 21st. See below for differences in the 2023 and 2024 surveys. Interestingly, employers’ top reason for wanting their hires to know their way around AI is so that they can acquire further skills (see bottom of page).

Source: GMAC

‘VERY INTERESTING FINDINGS’

Strategic thinking and problem-solving skills are predicted to remain among the most valued skills for the next five years, with the latter sinking one place and the former rising two places since GMAC’s 2023 survey. Innovation is also expected to rise in importance, becoming the 6th most important skill, up from 11th today; similarly, grit — defined as a combination of passion, perseverance, resilience, and determination to achieve long-term goals — is predicted to increase in importance, moving up to rank 9th.

Meanwhile, several traditionally valued skills like teamwork and project management are predicted by recruiters to decline in importance: among them, initiative, moving from 8th to 16th; interpersonal and teamwork skills, falling from 4th to 15th; time and project management skills, dropping from 7th to 17th; and coachability, which previously ranked 13th, falling to 20th.

“These are very interesting findings,” Patel says, “and of course we don’t know how these will impact different businesses or societal behavior, but this shift is likely to reflect how AI and automation are taking over tasks once handled by human initiative and teamwork, reducing the emphasis on these traditional skills, and reshaping the skills prioritized by employers. Equally, flexible work arrangements and automated project management solutions fundamentally change the team skills needed by graduates.”

Source: GMAC

DON’T MISS STRONG MBA HIRING FORECAST IN NEW GMAC SURVEY OF RECRUITERS