Reston, Virginia The results of the 2011 year-end poll of employers conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) indicate an improved job market for MBAs in 2012. The poll shows that nearly three-quarters (74%) of employers plan to hire MBAs in 2012, up from 58% in 2011. Not only are more companies planning to hire, they are planning to do so at increased levels in 2012 compared to 2011. The result also reveals that nearly four times as many companies are planning to increase the number of MBAs they hire in 2012, compared to 2011 (from 6% in 2011 to 22% in 2012). Plus, 32% companies plan to increase salaries for MBA hires.

GMAC, a non-profit education organisation of the world’s leading graduate business schools, has been conducting the year-end poll of employers since 2009. This poll, combined with the organisation’s annual Corporate Recruiters Survey, lend it a vantage point to help understand and explain the trends in workforce demand for MBA and business masters graduates. 229 employers from 216 companies from across the world participated in the 2011 poll.

Based in Reston, Virginia, GMAC has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. The GMAT exam was created in 1954 and is used by more than 5,300 graduate management programs at approximately 2,000 business schools around the world to assess applicants.