Our partner QS recently found out that MBAs in Switzerland earn the highest salaries in the world. However, with the Swiss National Bank’s snap decision to peg the Swiss franc to the Euro in an attempt to protect the Swiss economy from European debt crisis, this could have implications for its average salary levels and international competitiveness when recruiting the world’s top MBAs.
QS has revealed that there is a 34% growth in UK MBA demand and a 28% growth in Germany MBA demand . This demand is being fueled by the consulting and industrial sectors. On the global arena, the job growth rate is averaging at 36%. MBA consulting jobs are back at record levels in 2011, with a 28% jump in demand. MBA jobs in financial services are seeing a 27% actual increase in 2011. IT and computer services MBA jobs recorded a 34% jump in 2011.
The report produced by the team behind the QS World MBA Tour – a leading MBA recruitment event, supported by Jobzippers, provides the first view of MBA salary trends in 2011 based on responses from 2140 actively hiring MBA recruiters. Results were taken from a respondent pool of over 12,000 employers – the largest global employer survey ever conducted.
The sovereign debt crisis hitting the euro zone is not stopping companies actively recruiting MBAs in Western Europe in 2011 and MBA salaries have risen by nearly 10%. In 2011, MBA employers in Switzerland reported the highest salaries in the world with an average MBA salary of US$122,300 per annum, followed closely by Australia at US$117,800 per annum.
Katty Ooms Suter, director of marketing, admissions and career services at IMD in Switzerland, observes that MBA recruiting “has definitely taken a step forward.” She adds, “pretty much all companies contacted by IMD, across many industries, are keen to recruit MBAs…for specific needs or open positions rather than generic talent recruiting.”
Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS says, “Previously, the strength of the Swiss franc puts its MBA salary levels above many others in the euro zone, giving Switzerland a relative advantage in attracting some of the world’s best MBAs to its financial services industry. The government’s sudden decision to peg the Swiss franc to the Euro is likely to see the country’s MBA salaries take a slight downturn in next year’s report, bringing its salary levels closer in parity to its other Western European counterparts.” He continues, “Nevertheless, with Zurich and Geneva ranking 2nd and 3rd in the 2010 Mercer Quality of Living Survey respectively, Switzerland is likely to remain an attractive working destination for MBAs from around the world.”
With global MBA demand on-the-rise, top business schools such as Cornell, IE, HEC, INSEAD, St.Gallen, IMD, ESADE, Hult, Rochester Bern, Duke, IESE and many more will be in Zurich on Thursday October 20th with the QS World MBA Tour to recruit the best candidates for their MBA programs. The QS World MBA Tour is the world’s largest series of recruitment and information fairs for business school applicants. In 2010, over 60,000 MBA candidates registered to visit 85 events in 66 cities in 42 countries.
The QS World MBA Tour offers a unique opportunity to meet admissions officers of the world’s most influential business schools at venues around the world. Now in its seventeenth year, the Tour will consist of 83 events across 42 countries over five continents during 2011.
For those interested in attending one-to-one meetings with MBA admissions directors in a more intimate environment, TopMBA Connect 1-2-1 is conducting pre-matched interviews between business schools and prospective MBA candidates.
For more information, visit www.topmba.com or send an email to Jukra Bès at Jukra@qs.com.
