More than half of employers plan to increase starting base salaries either at or above the rate of inflation.
According to the results of the 2016 Year-End Poll of Employers, 58 percent of employers plan to increase starting base salaries for new MBA hires in 2017. Specifically, 19 percent intend to raise starting salaries above the rate of inflation, and 39 percent intend to raise starting salaries at the rate of inflation. Forty percent will maintain 2016 salary levels, and just one percent indicated they will be decreasing starting salaries. Overall, a smaller share of employers plan to increase starting salaries for new bachelor’s degree hires (52%).
The results of the 2016 Corporate Recruiters Survey, which sampled 842 employers in 40 countries worldwide, indicate that the median starting base salary for recent MBA graduates in the United States in 2016 was US$105,000, up from a median of US$100,000 in 2015. The median base starting salary for recent bachelor’s-degree recipients in 2016 was US$58,000, up from US$55,000 in 2015.
As a part of the Corporate Recruiters Survey, employers were asked to identify factors that would positively influence the base salary level their company would offer to recent business school graduates. The most commonly identified factors where experience within industry (50% of employers), three or more years work experience (47%), experience in the same job function (42%), business degree from a top school (36%), and having a specialized degree and/or knowledge (34%).
For more on 2017 hiring and salary projections, as well as analysis of employer organizational goals, download the 2016 Year-End Poll of Employers.