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2013 MBA Recruiters Survey - Manufacturing & Products/Services on Decline & Asia has the Best Post-MBA Opportunities

GMAC 2013 Employment Report
GMAC has published the 2013 Corporate Recruiters Survey, which collected feedbacks from 900 employers spread across 50 countries and 158 Business Schools around the world.  The general outlook in the job market for MBAs is positive, and the openings are slowly matching the pre-2008 economic crisis.



Europe vs. US vs. Asia

US companies have shown remarkable resilience over the past 5 years, and it is visible in the projected recruitment trends for 2013. According to the report, the average new MBA hires per company is projected to increase from 11.4 in 2012 to 14.6 in 2013. Asia also has shown robust demand with 61% of the companies planning to recruit against 54% in 2012. United States reflects this growth in demand with 85% of companies planning to recruit compared to 82% in 2012. The only region that didn’t show growth in hiring is Europe. However, the demand remains stable with 54% of companies planning to hire MBAs in 2013 – a number similar to the one seen in 2012.

Masters in Accounting & Finance vs. MBA

The demand for Masters in Accounting and Finance has increased in 2013 across all job functions and industries. It was especially visible in Finance sector with 54% of companies planning to hire candidates with Masters in Accounting against 45% in 2012, a jump of 9%. MBAs were also in high demand across industries. If you compare 2013 data vs. 2012 in Consulting (79% vs. 69%), Energy/Utilities (86% vs. 69%), Finance/Accounting (75% vs 70%), and Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals (89% vs. 77%) – the demand for MBAs have increased across industries. Government and Non-Profit showed a stable growth (43% vs. 43%) while Manufacturing (63% vs. 70%) and Products/Service (70% vs. 71%) showed a decline in growth.

With the majority of manufacturers (66%) intending to reduce the costs, the hiring of new MBAs is set to decline in 2013. The demand slightly declined for products/services industry due to increase in demand for Masters in Finance and Accounting professionals.
Salary

Finance/Accounting has overtaken Technology to take the 2nd place in the top post MBA Industries. MBAs entering Finance/accounting earned an average US$100,000 against the 2012 2nd place industry – Technology (US$95,000). Technology has taken 3rd place in 2013 with a mean salary of US$95,000. Products/Services industry dropped one place to take the fourth place with a mean salary of US$90,000 against 2012 Salary of US$92,000.

International Job Placement

In 2013, 33% of Employers plan to place Business graduate in regions other than their home country. The good news is that companies placing students in International locations are offering a much higher compensation for MBAs and Masters in Management/Accounting candidates than domestic placements.

When you consider the top International destinations post-MBA, recruiters across US, Europe, Latin America, Middle-East/Africa and Asia-Pacific prefers Asia-Pacific first, followed by United States and finally Europe. Asia-Pacific region is a preferred destination by 25% European Recruiters, 24% US Recruiters, 14% Middle-East/Africa and 97% Asian recruiters.

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2013 GMAC MBA Recruiters Survey

About the Author 

Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

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