Research Snapshot

Corporate Recruiters Survey 2020

gmac.com/corporaterecruiters

Top-3 skills valued by recruiters Hiring of graduate management talent is expected

in b-school graduates in the to rebound in 2021
context of COVID-19
Overall Hiring Trends by Program Type

2020 2020
Strategic Thinking 2019 (Actual)
(Projected Wave I) (Projected Wave II)
2021 (Projected)

92% 89%
86%
77% 72%
60% 63%
56%
54%
51%49%56
%
54 % 56%
49% 50% 45% 50%49%
44%

Communication Skills

MBA Master in Master of Master of Master of Data

Management Accounting Finance Analytics

Confidence in B-school graduates remains strong

Versatility
in times of economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19

95%
Two in three respondents of respondents from Fortune 100
reported an increase in the companies were highly confident
importance of the ability or confident in graduate business
to navigate technological school’s ability to prepare students to
disruption as a result be successful in their organization
of COVID-19

Projected median salary of graduate management talent held steady

Projected Annual Base Starting Salary (Median) for 2020 New Hires (Wave I) Big-three industries of MBA hires—
$115,000

$80,000 $85,000
$75,000 $75,000

Consulting Finance Technology

$145,000 $115,000 $115,000
MBA Master in Master of Master of Master of
Management Accounting Finance Data Analytics command premium salaries
(Wave I projections)
Median base salary for 2020 MBA graduates softens but is still projected to be
over $100,000 (Wave II)

2020 GMAC Annual Corporate Recruiters Survey was conducted in two waves of data collection to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on skill demand, hiring projections, and salary trends of graduate
management talent for the class of 2020. Wave I received 712 responses between February 17-March 17, 2020 and Wave II received 232 responses between June 17-July 17, 2020.