2007 TopMBA.com Report Shows MBA Salary Gap Increasing

The salary differential between MBAs and non-MBAs in the world's job markets is growing, according to the recently published 2007 TopMBA.com Recruitment & Salary Trends Report 2007.

The survey of 489 international MBA employers reveals that, compared to the previous year, MBA salaries increased more rapidly than salaries for non-MBAs with 4 years of work experience. This is true across most major industry sectors and regions.

In Consulting, for example, someone with 4-years experience will earn on average $72,129. A Masters graduate will earn $65,121 and a Ph.D. $77,415, while an MBA graduate earns $99,154. This 137% improvement between the MBA and the earner with 4-years experience is up from last years 132%.

The table below compares the average MBA salary gap by sector between MBA graduates and non-MBA graduates with 4-years experience. The sectors featured reveal a widening gap year-on-year between salaries for new hires with MBAs and those without: -

Source: 2007 TopMBA.com International Recruiters Survey

The TopMBA.com Recruitment and Salary Trends Report 2007 confirms that MBAs are the highest paid postgraduates worldwide, across all major industry sectors. Nunzio Quacquarelli, author of the Report, says of this increase, "Many banks and consulting firms are competing for the same talent, and consulting firms are competing by offering higher salaries. However, many MBAs are being recruited by banks at present because the larger bonuses payable by banks, and investment banks in particular, ensure that they offer the greatest overall compensation for the first year out of business school. MBAs who choose to join banks are judging that the financial sector boom will continue and banks will continue to pay high bonuses resulting in higher overall compensation."

He continues, "The downside to such high MBA salaries and the growing salary gap with non-MBAs is that some employers become disaffected with MBA hiring, creating a ceiling beyond which they will start to target non-MBAs." Also, the boom may not continue. Chris Higgins of the Career Service at Wharton reports 779 companies on-campus to recruit Wharton MBAs in 2007, a 9% increase on 2006. "I started working at Wharton in April 2001, just in time to experience the dotcom and consulting crash. Demand for MBAs is cyclical and you never know what is around the corner, but the current market is great and the outlook is pretty good."

A summary of the TopMBA.com Recruitment and Salary Trends Report 2007 is offered FREE of charge to candidates registering to attend the QS World MBA Tour in Fall 2007. Wharton will be attending all 48 venues of the Tour between September and December 2007.

Prospective MBA candidates can visit www.topmba.com for further information.

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Source: www.topmba.com