Around 80 per cent of business school recruiters plan to hire MBAs in 2014, up by 7 percentage points from last year, according to a recent Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey of employers. The number has increased by 30 percentage points since 2009, the heart of the economic crisis, when just half of employers hired MBAs.

GMAC, the body that administers GMAT, conducted its annual Corporate Recruiters Survey of 565 employers from 44 countries in February and March this year.

The survey was conducted in partnership with EFMD and the MBA Career Services and Employer Association and included 32 of the top 100 companies in the FT 500 and 36 of the Fortune 100.

Sangeet Chowfla, GMAC CEO and President, said, “More companies in all sectors and across the world plan to hire business school graduates, with projected hiring rates the highest for all degree types since the Great Recession started in 2009.

MBAs have always been valued by employers, but this survey shows that as the economy improves, employers see MBAs as a good investment into their future.” The optimistic hiring outlook for MBAs and other master’s-level business graduates comes as fewer companies are focused on overcoming economic challenges.

Companies focused on growth and expansion are more likely to have improved hiring plans.

The recruiters’ survey compares projected hiring for 2014 with actual hiring from previous years. Some of the key findings are:

Around 83 per cent of employers in Asia-Pacific, 61 per cent of European employers, and 86 per cent of the US employers plan to hire MBAs this year.

Half of the employers surveyed plan to hire master in management graduates, up from 45 per cent past year and 18 per cent in 2009.

45 per cent of employers plan to hire master of accounting graduates, up from 36 per cent last year and 17 per cent in 2010.

Salary Median base salaries employers expect to offer MBAs are $95,000 in the US and $69,000 in Europe

Projected median MBA base salary in Asia-Pacific is $21,340, reflecting much lower per-capita income in the region.

Out of five factors, communication, managerial, teamwork, leadership and technical skills, employers say communication skills are the most important ones they seek in new hires, on average twice as important as managerial skills.

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