Year-End Employer Poll Report 2018 (Abstract)

Year-End Employer Poll Report 2018

This report details the results of the Year-End Employer Poll 2018. The findings examine employers’ 2018 hiring outcomes and 2019 hiring outlook as well as international hiring, change in compensation, perceptions of the value of a graduate business education, and employer goals.

January 2019

Overview

A total of 350 employers responded this year’s poll. Each section of the report begins with an overall analysis that includes all respondents to the survey (n=350), followed by analysis by company location, including the United States (n=289), developed economies (excluding the United States, n=30), and developing economies (n=31). These designations are based on a United Nations country classification. Each section concludes with analysis by industry and company size.

Quick Facts

  • Responses indicate demand for business school graduates will continue to be high in 2019. Overall, 78 percent of employers plan to hire recent MBA graduates in 2019, on par with the share that made MBA hires in 2018 (77%). A greater share of employers plan to make 2019 hires among Master of Data Analytics (41%) and Master in Management (37%) graduates compared with 2018 hiring (36% and 32%, respectively).
  • The findings show that international hiring will continue to be a problem area for employers in 2019. In the United States, 33 percent of employers report hiring international business school graduates requiring legal documentation in 2018, down from 42 percent in 2017. Among US employers that made international hires in 2018, only 55 percent plan to make such hires in 2019.
  • Most employers plan to increase the starting base salaries of new business school hires in 2019 at or above the rate of inflation compared with the base salaries offered to 2018 new hires.