SURVEY PROJECTS BUSINESS SCHOOL GRADUATE DEMAND REBOUNDING POST-PANDEMIC - GMAC

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- The Graduate Management Admission Council™ (GMAC™), a global association of leading graduate business schools, has released its annual 2021 Corporate Recruiters Survey.

The report found that corporate recruiters project a robust demand for business school graduates, with nine in 10 of them expecting it to increase or remain stable in the next five years, according to a statement.

In addition, a higher proportion of recruiters in 2021 (37 per cent) expect the demand to increase than that in the previous year (30 per cent), with more than half of the European recruiters (54 per cent) sharing such a view compared to their Asian (32 per cent) and American (34 per cent) counterparts.

Among the key findings, MBA salary and hiring are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels; technology sector embraces MBA graduates for hiring and promotion; and, perceptions of online programmes are mixed depending on region, sector.

In 2020, the projected MBA median salary reached an all-time high of US$115,000 before COVID-19 severely disrupted the global economy and caused it to drop down to $105,000, three months into the pandemic. (US$1 = RM4.155)

According to survey respondents, demand for MBA graduates by the technology industry is anticipated to increase by 10 percentage points in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic 2020. In fact, with 96 per cent of tech recruiters projecting to hire MBA graduates in 2021, the demand for MBA talents tops the previous three years.

In addition, online programmes have been gaining traction in recent years. According to GMAC data, 50 more online MBA programmes accepted GMAT scores in the testing year (TY) 2020 as compared to five years earlier in TY 2016.

GMAC has been conducting the Corporate Recruiter Survey on behalf of the graduate management education community since 2001.

This year’s survey was administered in partnership with the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA), and career services offices at participating graduate business schools worldwide.

More details at www.gmac.com.

-- BERNAMA