Close to 3 lakh people take the CAT (Common Admission Test) each year to reach greener pastures, two years and an MBA degree later. What if someone told them that only 21 percent of the B-school graduates are employable or worthy of employment?
A recent study done by MBAUniverse.com and MeriTrac, testing and an assessment company states that the employable number of MBA graduates stands at 21 percent. This is less than the 25 percent reported in 2007. Although, the number of MBA seats in India has grown almost four fold—from 94704 in 2006-07 to 352571 in 2011-12 ( which is 30% at a 5-year compounded annual growth rate), the employable percentage remains a sorry figure.
It is logical reasoning which includes data interpretation which was the weak point. Reuters
The statistics get more interesting— while the verbal ability among the respondents were satisfactory, it is logical reasoning which includes data interpretation which was the weak point. Experts consider this as a bigger worry as it determines the decision making skills of a candidate.
“The results of 2012 employability report covering 2264 B-schools students from 29 cities are quite startling. This report clearly brings out the employability gaps across various competencies and highlights the need for scientific examinations and tests to align the candidate skills to employability metrics.” says S Murlidhar, CEO and Director, MeritTrac Services.
Some saw this coming. Kunal Banerjie who heads Absolute HR International, a Bangalore-based recruitment consulting firm, said that the major cause for this state is the low barrier to entry when it comes to MBA education. “This is the natural result of too many MBA collages mushrooming all over the country. Education has become a business. The bubble is going to burst soon. These days you are differentiated if you do not have an MBA. This will hit us in a decade,” he told Firstpost while noting that only 4-5 percent of the MBA graduates in India are employable according to global standards.
