QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends Report 2018

The latest edition of the annual Jobs & Salary Trends Report is based on the responses of 3,463 employers to our QS Employer Survey, across a range of sectors from all over the world. The report highlights a positive increase in both salary and MBA hiring levels (18%) in the last year, continuing a trend over the last decade that now means recruitment levels are three times higher than the pre-2007 financial crisis levels.

Hiring levels look positive

While the mature North American and Western Europe markets have both seen steady increases (10%), one of the real highlights of this report is the increase in hiring levels across the Asia-Pacific region (18%). While hiring levels have shown strong growth, it must be noted that a slowdown in this growth is predicted over the next couple of years on a global basis. To find out more, take a look at MBA Recruitment & Salary Levels by Region. As in previous editions of this report it is hoped that employers are being somewhat conservative in their predictions and the reality will be more positive. Globally speaking, we’ve seen reported hiring levels far exceed the anticipated level.

Salaries on the rise again

In terms of salaries, we can report that after a slight dip last year, levels have bounced back across the board, at a modest but healthy level. The highest basic MBA salaries are on offer in Switzerland ($123,500), followed by the US ($102,100), France ($98,500) and the UK ($92,400). Australia leads the way in Asia-Pacific ($98,400), followed by Japan ($80,000). While base salaries have steadily increased it is worth noting that bonus levels have been more volatile and haven’t always increased in line with basic salaries. Take a look at the Top 10 Countries for MBA Salaries.

Recruitment and salary by industry

Global MBA hiring levels have experienced double-digit growth across all sectors this year, with the exception of financial services, which continues to grow at a steady pace (5%). One of the most positive stories to come out of the report is the strength in hiring across the ‘other’ industry grouping (15%), which takes in industry, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail, engineering and everything else that doesn’t fit into the other broad categories. It shows that MBAs are desired across a wide range of industries and MBAs now have a much wider choice of career path. 

As is to be expected the highest salaries are still found in financial services, where the average salary is comfortably in excess of all other industries. Below that however, levels are pretty consistent across the other categories. Find out more about Recruitment & Salary Trends by Industry here. 

Employers asking for more from their MBAs

As part of the QS Employer Survey we also measure the importance that MBA employers place upon certain skills in comparison to their satisfaction that their new hires do in fact possess these said skills. This year we see an extension of a common theme: A mismatch between importance and satisfaction in soft skills. However, while the levels of expectation and satisfaction don’t necessarily match up, soft skills such as interpersonal skills and communication both register among the higher levels of satisfaction reported.

Employers are looking to hire more MBAs and are happy enough to pay them what they’re worth, but that’s not to say they don’t have the highest expectations of them.