Global MBA Job Market Turns Positive

(Corrects number of North American schools included in the Global 200 Top Business Schools ranking.)

MBA hiring improved around the world in 2010, and it has a good chance of continuing to grow, says Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a London company that organizes the annual QS World MBA Tour. QS recently released several reports, including the TopMBA.com Jobs and Salary Trends Report and the Global 200 Top Business Schools Report, based on its survey of 2,145 recruiters involved with MBA hiring in more than 50 countries.

Quacquarelli recently shared the results of these reports and his thoughts on what recruiters are looking for in employees in a post-crisis economy, as well as the relevance of the MBA degree, with Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Francesca Di Meglio. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

What was the most surprising result of the 2010 employer survey?

We found the MBA job market is actually quite robust and picking up substantially in most major OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] markets. Despite having had a pretty shocking credit crunch, the downward impact on MBA hiring was short-lived, with less than two years of cutbacks. Russia reported a 22 percent increase in MBA hiring year-over-year. And Latin America was also quite buoyant. This compares with the mature market in the U.S., which had a steep drop in MBA hiring in 2009 and showed a 9 percent increase in hiring in 2010. Hiring is still lagging compared with 2007 or 2008 levels. Still, we have seen a bounce back in the U.S., whereas Western Europe is showing just a 3 percent increase compared with 2009, which is quite an insignificant change.

MBA hiring is particularly picking up in the Asia Pacific region. We're seeing more than 30 percent growth in MBA jobs year-over-year in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in markets such as India, China, Australia, and Singapore.

Why? What is it about emerging markets that has them flourishing?

Emerging markets have traditionally had few companies geared toward hiring MBAs. As they are expanding outside their home markets, they see MBAs as a human resource [employed by] American and European companies, and they're following suit. The salaries in these markets are still less than at global employers, although a lot of [employers] are beginning to recruit MBA candidates for more international roles. The rapid GDP growth in many of these emerging markets means a lot of multinational companies are expanding their operations in these markets, and they are bringing MBAs in to do the job. When you have a critical mass of alumni in a country, and they rise to a position of seniority, they start to look for other MBAs to join their companies. That creates the network effect, and it starts to create momentum.

Other than pharmaceutical companies, which were the highest paying, are there other strong industries MBAs should consider?

IT and computer services are showing a strong increase in demand, which is quite driven by the Asia Pacific region. Many MBAs have an IT background and go back into that sector in managerial roles. There's also a huge outsourcing industry in Asia, which is employing many MBAs today. Consulting and professional services are showing a 19 percent increase from 2009, which is very encouraging. Financial service firms are also showing a strong lift. Banks moved back into profitability, so they're catching up with hiring, considering the people they laid off and the MBAs they didn't hire in the previous two years. Manufacturing is showing quite a strong lift.

Why is Europe the leader in salaries?

European students typically have six to seven years of work experience, whereas U.S. students average between four and five years. There is an extra three years, on average, of work experience, which results in Europeans commanding slightly higher salaries. Work experience is more important today than ever before. In a market where companies really want candidates to prove they are going to add value, they will look more and more at previous work experience. Although salaries are significantly higher among European schools, the bonuses payable to candidates from top-tier U.S. schools, on average, tend to be higher.