According to a recent survey for 2016 by the GMAC – The Graduate Management Admission Council – the hiring numbers for recent business school graduates are growing and remain high. The survey also shows strong employer demand for recent MBA graduates as a part of their hiring plans for 2017.

Almost 8 out of 10 employers or 79% said they were expecting to hire recent MBA graduates during the coming year, which is an increase from 68% in 2016.

Out of these employers, 58% also said they were expecting to increase their starting annual salaries, to start at either at or above the rate of inflation. 40% said they were planning on maintaining the salaries at their current levels and an impressive 19% made it clear that they were going to boost the salaries to be above the inflation rate. In other words, there was almost no intention at all to lower the salaries, which is proof that an MBA will still get you into companies with competitive salaries.

The survey also showed that MBA internships should not be an issue during 2017 as 66% of the companies who offer internship plan to offer MBA students internship options during 2017. Out of these 66%, 82% of the respondents additionally said they were planning to increase or maintain the number of MBA internships offered during 2017.

What is interesting about the survey is also that some of the most sought after employers took part and answered the survey, as 36 companies responding could be found in the Fortune 500 and 21 of those are Fortune 100 companies.