2017 Year-End Employer Poll (Abstract)

Employers Plan to Increase Business School Hiring in 2018

This research brief summarizes the results of the 2017 Year-End Employer Poll, a short survey of employers completed in November 2017. 

December 2017

Overview

A total of 93 employers responded, making for a response rate of 7.5 percent. Though the results do not necessarily reflect a statistically representative sample of global employers, the data collected provides a useful snapshot of the hiring forecast for business school graduates in 2018.

Quick Facts

  • Eighty-three percent of responding employers plan to hire new business school graduates in 2018. More employers expect to hire MBA and business master’s graduates in 2018 compared with 2017. 
  • In 2018, a greater share of companies expect to hire more specialists than generalists (40%) than more generalists than specialists (28%). This represents a shift from 2017, when the balance was roughly equal.
  • In 2018, just 18 percent of employers have plans to hire international candidates, down from 27 percent in 2017.