MBAs in demand again

MBAs are again in demand. The education and study-abroad company Quacquarelli Symonds published a survey in October which shows that the rise in recruitment in countries like China and India are outstripping recruitment in Europe and US. The demand for MBA-s increased 32% in the APac region, compared to 9% in USA and 3% in Europe. Many European and North American companies have still not come out of the ravages of recession and are not hriring.

The highest paying field is no more the Banking sector. In the post recession era Pharmaceutical is the highest paymaster. Graduates recruited into pharmaceutical companies earned an average of $92,274, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds report released Oct. 14, followed by those in financial services, with average pay of $90,926. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/business/global/19iht-RIEDSALARIES.html?_r=1&src=busln)

More than 2000 companies, 200 B-schools  (80 in the United States, 67 in Europe, 36 in Asia and the rest in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East) were surveyed. The survey also shows the anomaly in the job market with respect to education. University graduates were still scrambling for jobs which MBA-s were receiving high starting salaries.

What then are the B-schools which get the highest salaries?
Ashridge Business School, London, is the winner. (Average salary of $169,050)
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Belgium is next (Average salary of $140,000)
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in North Carolina were the only two schools outside Europe to make the top 10 in salaries.
According to another B School survey by the same firm, the M.B.A.s most valued by recruiters — even if they were not the highest paid — were from Harvard, Wharton, Insead, the London Business School, Insead’s Singapore campus and Melbourne Business School. 

MBA-s with solid pre qualification experience get paid more and B schools like Ashridge recruits those into their programs who have more work experience. Their program is more like an executive management program. There was a 24% increase in MBA job opportunitites in this year (2010). In 2009 there had been a decline of 5% in MBA hirings. MBAs usually get more consulting and financial services opportunities and the demand in these fields will keep rising according to an article in NY Times.