MBA Job Market: Slowing or Returning to Normal?

After a hot job market in 2022, it seems the MBA market is now slowing down.

Business Insider reports that the 2023 job market has cooled off leading some MBA grads to even consider switching their post-MBA career.

“It’s driving our students to think broader about their post-MBA career options,” says Jeff McNish, an assistant dean at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business’s Career Center. “I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. I just think it’s different.”

2/3 OF CLASS OF 2023 MBAS SAY THEY HAVE NO JOB LINED UP

Job uncertainty is a top a concern for the Class of 2023—and the numbers show why. A 2023 poll by Intelligent.com found that 68% of 2023 MBA grads said that they didn’t have a full-time job lined up after graduation. Compare that to last year, when a similar poll showed that 86% had full-time employment by graduation.

One cause for concern may be the slowing demand for consultants. Amid recent uncertain economic conditions, top firms have cut jobs and delayed start dates for new hires.

A RETURN TO NORMAL

2023 has proven to be a rough job market. Still, experts say, today’s job market is actually closer to a normal market for MBA grads as 2021 and 2022 hiring was abnormally high.

“I don’t think it’s in any stretch a recession or MBAs aren’t going to be in demand,” McNish says. “We did have a little bit of maybe irrational exuberance,” he adds. “Hiring just went off the charts in the last couple of years.”

Tech companies—which typically offer quick post-internship job offers—are also now showing a slightly lower return rate for full-time positions. That’s a sign, experts say, that the job market is stabilizing.

“It felt almost like more of a normal return rate, but because we’ve had such high yields and high return-offer rates for internship classes, it felt like a bit of a shock,” Stephanie O’Connor, associate dean for career services at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, says.

Sources: Business Insider, Business Insider, P&Q

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