12, Jan 2012

Recent job market analyses (based on responses that came from 1,509 employers representing 901 companies located in the United States and 50 countries around the globe) suggest that MBAs and other graduate management alumni enjoyed an improved US job market in 2011. The trend, seen since 2010, suggests that companies are focusing on expanding their geographic and customer base. The post-recession recovery is gaining momentum as companies turn more towards growth and focus less on overcoming economic challenges and reducing costs.

Around the world, more companies are hiring and the average number of new hires is expected to continue to increase. In the United States, it is in the finance/accounting, healthcare/pharmaceutical, consulting, and high technology industries that demand for recent MBA graduates is expected to be the strongest. In addition, salaries for MBAs are expected to increase slightly from 2010 levels.

The value of a graduate business degree is clear: 76% of the Class of 2010 alumni insist that their degrees were essential for obtaining their postgraduation jobs. Ten years of research about graduate business school alumni reveal two patterns that have stood the test of time. B-school graduates remain eminently employable and consistently give their degrees rave reviews.

Findings of the 2011 Alumni Survey Report  (PDF), based on responses of 7,000  participants, are consistent with past results:

• 93% reported being employed and nearly 88% of the Class of 2010 had jobs upon graduation.
• 95% rate their graduate education at a value ranging from good to outstanding.
• That value is borne out in a marketplace where 7 in 10 alums from the Class of 2010 said that their starting annual salaries met or exceeded their expectations.

I. The median starting annual salary for the Class of 2010 was US $78,820.
II. The median starting annual salary for all alumni in the survey, regardless of graduation year, was US $94,542, and median bonus compensation reported by alumni was US$17,565.