Asia is where all the action is! This statement is true as far as MBA recruitment and placements by the global banking and investment firms are concerned. The best brains in the best business schools in US and UK are being hired to work in the emerging economies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Mumbai. And, guess what? The newbies, those who have recently graduated from the best MBA universities are readily heading east, with a six figure job and their backpacks.

The popularity of the Asian centers of the global investment banking firms such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC etc is on account of following:

• Higher growth opportunities in the emerging economies than in the developed economies of the world where the job market is almost saturated
• Easy and smooth tax regulations, which leave people with higher disposable income
• Government regulations and restrictions are more relaxed in these economies, providing the managers with much coveted flexibility
• Lower cost of living as compared to the cities like London and New York City
• Ideal locations for bankers with families
• No stringent visa formalities required to be fulfilled
• Good infrastructural facilities
• Greater job stability

In addition to the global corporations, the local corporate giants have also beefed up the demand for MBA professionals from the best business schools, often luring them with upfront cash bonuses and high pay packages. Those employed with the globally recognized banking giants received annual bonus of more than 40 percent for the previous year, which is really good, keeping in view the lower cost of living in the region and less taxable income.

The business schools in the region are also attracting MBA aspirants from around the world. The MBA universities in China, Singapore and India rank in the top 15 business schools in the world and the placements at these hallowed portals of learning has increased impressively over the past couple of years. At the Indian School of Business placements, the corporate hiring for the batch of 2011 went up by 22 percent, with the average salary offered being around $44,000.

The MBA recruitment has become competitive again with corporate organizations hiring more and more number of MBA graduates to manage several top notch business operations. Joining the ranks of Boston Consulting Group that announced an increase of 18 percent in its MBA recruitment program earlier this month, Deloitte has declared that it will hire around 400 fresh MBA graduates in the year 2011. Moreover, the company also plans to expand its summer internship program, increasing the intake of students who have just been admitted into the MBA programs at various elite universities in the country.

The company’s MBA recruitment head for the US, Angela Cherry, said that the reports of a hike in the recruitment program is completely true and the demand for fresh MBA graduates at Deloitte LLP emanates from the expansion of its consulting business. Moreover, MBA students are now finding place in such operational departments as Human Resources, Technology etc. The company has gone in for rigorous recruitment, aiming at the newly admitted MBA students who undergo a 4-week training session at Deloitte before even starting their course. Read more…

This is surely good news. At least for the hundred thousands of students who take GMAT and GRE exams every year, not once but twice or thrice. What do you think is the driving force behind the relentless studying and unceasing efforts that candidates put into studying so as to get the best possible GMAT scores or GRE scores? In addition to pursuing MBA education from the best university in the country, the prospect of a six figure annual income is very alluring. If GMAC survey reports are to be believed, then the day is not far when the B-School graduates in the country and abroad will boast of the pre-recession income levels.

In the past two years, basically in the post-recession period, unemployment rate in the country increased to unprecedented levels and the MBA graduates were amongst the worst hit. A major percentage of those who graduated in the year 2008 and 2009 found themselves either without a job or jobs with very low-income levels.

The recovery measures adopted by the federal government and the positive response of the markets have led to an increase in the employment level and an improvement in the salary offered. According to a recent survey undertaken by Graduate Management Admission Council, the body that regulates and conducts the GMAT, Graduate Management Admission Test, the average pay of B-school graduates is up by $12, 126 in the year 2010, as compared to the median pay figure of $66,694 in the year 2009. (Here, the years refer to the batch graduating in that particular year)

Another trend that has been observed is that not only financial and investment consulting firms, but also firms operating in energy, hospitality, health and biotechnology sectors are increasingly recruiting students fresh out of the business schools in the country. Even federal administrative departments are not to be left behind in the rush to capitalize upon the best knowledge pool in the country.

However, there are analysts who question the credibility of the survey figures on the grounds that those surveyed were the ones who were employed by various companies and enjoyed high salaries and bonuses. This does not present the entire story because the unemployed and the self- employed MBA grads who do not enjoy such beefed up income figures were not a part of the survey. Had they participated in it, the median salary range would have gone down sharply for the simple reason that the unemployed candidates had zero income and the sel- employed ones had only meager income.

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