The number of MBA jobs in Asia, as indicated by the QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Report 2013/14, highlights the region’s continuing appetite for MBA recruitment. Asia tops this year’s growth in demand charts with an increase in opportunities of 20% over the past year.
Globally, employer demand for MBAs is up by 14%, and now looks to have moved firmly past the turbulence of a few years ago (brought on, in large part, by the financial downturn) in that it marks the second successive year of stable growth in line with the annual average rise of 15% since QS first started to produce the world’s largest employer survey of MBA jobs in 1990.
“14% growth is very strong – it demonstrates the underlying health of the MBA. What’s interesting is that since the financial crisis of 2007/8, we did see a drop off in demand in the immediate two years afterwards, but the recovery has been more rapid than in previous cyclical downturns”, says Nunzio Quacquarelli, QS founder and managing director, and editor of this year’s report.
Expansion in the number of MBA jobs in India and China fuel growth
The increasing emergence and recognition of the MBA in Asia has seen the number of equivalent opportunities soar. This year, the growth in the number of MBA jobs in India and China stand out in particular.
“It is abundantly clear that the emerging worldwide economy is now vibrant with possibility for Asian businesses”, says professor Tom Robertson, dean of The Wharton School.
The trend for Asian companies, both multinational and local, to seek out MBAs as they pursue global expansion continues and shows no sign of slowing down, with an even larger 38% rise in opportunities forecasted for the coming year.
Nowhere has growth in 2013 been larger than in China, which experienced an explosive 35% rise in MBA opportunities, moving from fifth to third position in terms of the volume of job opportunities.
Meanwhile, the huge year-on-year increases in MBA jobs in India that have taken place in the past few years continue, with a 29% increase, far in excess of last year’s 16% rise.
Elsewhere, there were notable rises in the number of jobs in Asia available to MBAs in South Korea, where the presence of big multinationals like Samsung and Hyundai has fuelled a 20% increase, and even in Japan, where companies have a history of sponsoring students to pursue MBAs at Western business schools, saw a rise in demand of 17% this year.
Emerging markets enjoying healthy growth in MBA jobs
Emerging markets for MBA jobs in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa have all seen some positive growth in employer demand in 2012/2013, something that looks set to continue in the near-future.
Latin America’s overall growth of 6% (driven largely by Mexico, Brazil and Argentina) comes with a 9% forecast for 2013/2014 as companies increasingly see MBAs as the people required to internationalize across the region.
The Middle East has slowed its remarkable 21% growth of 2011/12 to a more measured 8% in 2012/2013. Demand is greatest in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, although parts of Africa have also reported increased demand, albeit from a relatively low base.
Dr Abdulkader Alfantookh, vice-minister of higher education in Saudi Arabia says, “We are still in the early stages of becoming a knowledge economy, but Saudi Arabia is investing in scholarships for 40,000 students a year to study undergraduate, Masters and MBA degrees overseas, and we expect them to bring their knowledge back to companies within Saudi.”
Growth in these emerging markets is likely to continue, not only due to the presence of multinationals, but also as the qualification is increasingly accepted and embraced within these regions, as is the case in Asia.
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