According to the recent 2017 MBA CSEA Fall Recruiting Trends Survey by the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, compared to last year’s data, MBA graduates and other master’s degree holders are being recruited much more often in the tech, consulting and some other industries.
The report data was based on the answers of respondents from 94 business schools (most of which are U.S.-based). More than seventy per cent of schools reported growth in hiring of full-time students into the technology industry. Last year, only 53% reported an increase. All in all, the top five employers showing a rise in hiring after tech are healthcare, consulting, finance and real estate.
Only one industry – the government sector – showed a decrease in hiring rates, Poets&Quants reports. Other sectors showing signs of decrease according to several institutions are: consumer packaged goods and energy.
Recruiting Has Been Going Down Just For One Year?
Last year’s MBA CSEA survey showed a flattening in terms of recruiting rates, which raised concerns among the MBA community. In 2016, only 41% of respondents indicated growth in recruiting for full-time students on-campus. It was 24% less than the previous year (2015), when an increase was reported by 65% of schools.
The most significant decrease was reported by full-time MBA programs, compared to 83% in 2015. According to MBA CSEA Executive Director, Megan Hendricks, this discrepancy is due to the fact that in times of strong economy, employers tend to broaden the lists of schools from where they hire on-campus. During a reduction, however, the recruiters retreat to the previous, more stable lists.
No Good News For Foreign Students
The technology sector has made the news in terms of hiring MBA graduates. This year, 60% of respondents indicated a surge in recruiting from technology companies, compared to last year’s 41%. The picture looks the same for specialized master’s students.
The largest increases in recruiting for part-time MBA graduates were seen in the following sectors besides technology: consulting (35%), finance (31.6%), healthcare (31.6%) and energy (31.6%).
However, the picture is not looking so well for international students, as employers are growing increasingly wary of hiring them, as immigration policy and the assigning of H-1B visas have been very uncertain recently. Hence, there has been spotted a significant decline in hiring foreign students on-campus. Only two sectors are indicated to show an increase in international students recruitment – technology (41.9%) and consulting (29%). Some sectors, such as hospitality, media and manufacturing, showed a flat in recruiting foreign students. Most industries, such as consulting, consumer packaged goods, government and media, indicated decreases by more than 40%.
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