Nine out of 10 employers planning to hire business school graduates in 2015 expect to hire as many or more than they did in 2014, according to a year-end survey of employers by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). GMAC’s 2014 Year-End Poll of Employers, released today, also revealed that more than half of all employers polled plan to increase starting salaries for MBAs in 2015, and the majority (55 percent) will offer internship opportunities to graduate management students.
“The solid job prospects for b-school talent seen over the past several years and again reflected in this poll, gives prospective students good reason to consider pursuing these degrees as part of a strategy to drive their career goals,” Rebecca Estrada Worthington, GMAC’s Survey Research Manager, told India’s Business Standard.
Recent MBA graduates are the most sought after by employers according to the poll, with 72 percent of respondents expecting to hire MBAs in 2015, up from 69 percent in 2014. The greatest projected increase in hiring demand for 2015, though, will be of Master in Management graduates, with 41 percent of employers planning to hire them in 2015, up from 30 percent in 2014.
“Our data show that even in the depths of the recession, business and management degrees can provide a measure of job protection and opportunity. Today, in a recovering global economy, management degrees can be a powerful driver of confidence and provide fuel for an individual’s career growth,” Worthington added.
The GMAC poll, which included 169 employers in 33 countries, is considered a sneak peek into the 2015 job market for business-related master degree holders.
