Currently, graduates from top business schools need several months to secure a job. Finding a professional job in the United States has become so challenging that even Harvard Business School admits that MBA graduates can no longer rely solely on the school’s reputation to open doors to employment.
According to The Wall Street Journal, last spring, 23% of Harvard MBA graduates were still searching for jobs three months after leaving campus. This rate is higher than the previous year’s 20% during a cooling period in the white-collar labor market, compared to 10% in 2022.
“We cannot ignore the impact of the challenging job market,” said Kristen Fitzpatrick, responsible for career development and alumni relations at Harvard Business School, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “Attending Harvard University will not make you stand out; you must possess skills.”
It’s not just Harvard Business School graduates facing difficulties in their job search. More than ten top MBA programs, including the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and New York University Stern School of Business, reported poorer employment outcomes last year than in any recent years.
In an effort to assist students and alumni, Harvard University is testing an artificial intelligence tool that compares job seekers’ resumes with their desired positions and recommends online courses to bridge skill gaps.
Analysis by The Wall Street Journal of school data shows that in most top-ranked business schools, the percentage of MBA graduates still lingering in the job market months after graduating in 2024 has more than doubled compared to 2022. Some schools, such as the University of Chicago’s Booth School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, saw this rate more than double.
However, there was an increase in employment numbers for Columbia Business School in 2024 compared to 2023. The school’s data shows that MBA graduates who secure jobs often receive substantial compensation, with a median base salary of around $175,000.
Officials from Columbia University and the University of Michigan stated that employers are not recruiting as many MBA students during the academic year, a strategy that was common two years ago. Now, they tend to recruit a few MBA students nearing graduation or after graduation.
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have reduced their MBA recruitment efforts. Spokespersons for Google and Amazon stated that they continue to hire MBAs but the numbers fluctuate based on business demands. Microsoft mentioned a slight decrease in MBA hiring.
Jenny Zenner, Senior Director at UVA Darden School of Business, noted that many technology recruiters have been laid off, leading companies to scale back student internship programs, fundamentally changing how they recruit from universities.
“Companies are telling us, ‘We won’t be visiting campuses anymore,'” Zenner added.
Susan Brennan, Head of Career Development at MIT Sloan School of Management, emphasized that in this environment, students need to engage with professors and alumni, not just rely on career centers or recruiters for communication. The school reported that 22.8% of MBA graduates were still job hunting three months post-graduation.
Brennan suggested that factoring in graduates starting businesses or returning to previous employers would decrease the overall number of MBA graduates without job offers.
Despite these challenges, school officials maintain that most MBA graduates from top schools eventually secure high-paying jobs, giving them an edge in the white-collar job market.