Recruiters return to business school for MBA hires

It’s good news for business school graduates in America and Asia as more recruiters are hiring MBAs this year and the number of graduates that individual companies are hiring is also on the increase.

According to the latest survey from the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which administers the GMAT test, 79 per cent of companies that took part in its 2012 corporate recruiter survey said that they plan to hire recent MBA graduates this year, compared with 72 per cent in 2011. The average number of new hires also looks set to increase this year from 13 to 17 on average.

On average, companies in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States expect continued growth in hiring in 2012 for all management graduates, but in Europe it is a different story. European companies project that 2012 hiring levels will be similar to those in 2011.

The biggest increase in job hiring is likely to come from smaller companies, according to GMAC, notably companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. This mirrors the experience reported by graduate business schools, such as Harvard, which report that many graduates prefer smaller companies as they can make a greater impact more quickly.

These smaller companies are also key drivers in economic growth, says Dave Wilson, president of GMAC. “These entrepreneurial firms see real value in the skills that management graduates bring to the workforce.”

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