Overview
What is the impact of COVID-19 on skill demand, hiring projections, and salary trends for MBA and business master’s graduates? The GMAC™ annual report based on the survey of corporate recruiters suggests that although graduate management talent is not immune to the impact of the pandemic, employers remain confident about their skills. This confidence is noticeable in the hiring projections, which are likely to rebound in 2021 and median salaries, which are holding at $105,000 for MBA graduates. In Wave II, the proportion of recruiters reporting plans to hire MBAs in 2021 (89%) is at a similar level as Wave I (92%). Before COVID-19, 92 percent of firms expressed intent to hire MBA graduates in 2020, a figure that dipped to 77 percent in Wave II. However, when asked about hiring plans for 2021, 89 percent of employers said they plan to hire MBA graduates. The survey is based on 712 responses collected in Wave I (February 17-March 17, 2020) and 232 responses in Wave II (June 17-July 17, 2020).