GMAC Releases Corporate Recruiters Survey Results

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) recently released its Corporate Recruiters Survey, which was conducted in February and March 2022 based on 941 survey respondents, including 539 corporate recruiters and 402 staffing firm respondents from 38 countries worldwide.

One of the main takeaways from this year’s findings is the favorable hiring market for graduates with an MBA or business master’s degree.  Overall, 92% of corporate recruiters and 95% of staffing firms said they expect to hire newly minted MBAs this year.  Additionally, most corporate recruiters agree that demand for new business school talent will increase in the next five years.

The survey also found that international mobility for business school graduates may be making a rebound, highlighted by 56% of US recruiters saying they either plan to or are willing to make international hires in 2022, up from 48% a year ago.  This is especially true for US technology companies, where recruiters said they were 83% planning or willing to make international hires.

Great news for current students, this year’s findings show that salaries being offered to business master’s graduates continue to increase.  The median starting salaries US recruiters plan to offer are up versus last year’s survey for graduates of Master of Finance, Master of Data Analytics, and Master of Accounting programs, while MBA starting salaries continue to be at a premium relative to other hires.  In fact, median MBA starting salary levels are 22% to 40% higher than those being offered to bachelor’s graduates.

Finally, as an effect of the pandemic, total enrollments in Online MBA programs exceeded that of full-time MBA enrollments for the first time in the 2020-21 academic year.  Notable, however, was the significant increase in the percentage of global recruiters who view graduates of online and in-person graduate programs equally, a remarkable 60% in 2022 versus just 34% in 2021.  The notable outlier was corporate recruiters in the United States—where only 29% agree that they view graduates of online and in-person programs equally, which was actually down from 33% a year ago.

For the full GMAC report, click here.  To start your business school application journey, contact Admitify today!