Demand for MBAs is on the rise, according to reports. We’ll look at the hard numbers of this new trend after demand for MBAs crashed during the 2008-2012 economic crises. We’ll also address the factors behind the rise in demand for general masters of business administration degree holders.

The Hard Numbers

In 2015, 88% of corporate recruiters working with business schools were planning on hiring recent MBA graduates. This was an 8% rise from the prior year and up a full third from the recruiting goals they reported in 2010.

Half of GMAC survey respondents said they would be hiring at least some MBA graduates. This was a higher planned hiring rate than non-MBA graduate programs; about a quarter said they wanted to hire people with master’s degrees in supply chain management, data analytics, and marketing. Demand for MBAs was high enough that many expected to offer higher salaries to graduates than they would have the previous year. Globally, 70% of manufacturers said they planned to hire MBA graduates, compared to just 50% a few years before.

A 2018 report by QS found 13% growth in global MBA demand. MBA salaries in the U.S., Switzerland, Japan, and Australia for 2017 were up year over year. The global average pay rate was $80,000 a year, ranging from $64,000 U.S. for MBA graduates in Asia while hitting $90,000 in North America. Average compensation for U.S. MBA holders hit an average $120,000 pay mid-career in 2017, while it was even higher for graduates of world-renowned schools. The premium for an MBA over a bachelor’s degree hit 83%.

Business Development

Some of the best career options for MBAs are in business development. Product management includes planning the design and testing of products to their manufacture to their end of life. Many MBAs are hired in intelligence gathering to understand what the company’s rivals are doing, plan the marketing of products, and study market trends. Getting products certified by various approving bodies or proving that they meet industry standards takes up their time, as well.

Logistics and Planning

MBAs learn the skills necessary to work in logistics and planning. For example, many MBAs take courses in material resource planning, logistics, labor planning, and product management. Now they’re able to plan warehouse purchasing, create labor planning forecasts, or develop delivery schedules. Many MBAs move into project planning whether it is a construction company or complex multi-supplier design project. If you want to work in IT, you could learn the necessary skills to be an IT project planner, coordinating software development projects, IT hardware installations and system integration testing.

Conclusion

As the economy finally rebounds from the 2007 economic crash that took a literal decade to come out of, strong economic growth and expansion are leading companies worldwide to hire MBAs. MBAs still work at all levels of management and administration. They’re being used more often in project planning, marketing, logistics and product development.