2023 Was MIT Sloan MBAs' Harshest Employment Landscape In A Decade

MIT Sloan graduates received record median and mean compensation in 2023, but jobs were scarcer

MIT Sloan School of Management graduates had a harder time finding jobs in 2023 than any time in recent history, with job offers and acceptances lower than even the nadir of the pandemic. Those in the school’s most recent MBA class who secured employment, however, were rewarded with record median compensation.

Even during the worst months of Covid-19 pandemic, placement rates for Sloanies never fell out of the 90%-and-above range:

2018: 97% offers, 93.6% acceptances
2019: 95.7% offers, 93.2% accepts
2020: 95.5% offers, 91.1% accepts
2021: 95.9% offers, 94.8% accepts
2022: 96.6% offers, 94.4% accepts

But 2023 brought significant challenges that have impacted all U.S. B-schools, and Sloan grads were not spared. Of the 336 job seekers in this year’s MBA class of 446, 90.2% received job offers by three months after graduation, and 86.9% accepted. You have to go back to 2013 to find another sub-90% job acceptance result for Sloanies.

Noting the “disrupted economic climate,” Susan Brennan, assistant dean in the MIT Sloan Career Development Office, writes in the forward to the 2023 employment report that Sloan’s 2023 MBAs nevertheless found “exceptional opportunities to fuel progress and drive transformation at well-established, high-growth, and startup organizations.” Their pay set new school records, as well.

MIT SLOAN MBAs BASE SALARY BY INDUSTRY

Industry	%	Median	Mean	25th-75th Percentile	2022%	2022 Median	2022 Mean
Consulting	33.7%	$190,000	$180,036	$175,000-$192,000	31.2%	$175,000	$175,608
Technology	24.1%	$157,100	$161,035	$150,000-$169,775	22.6%	$150,000	$148,851
Software/Internet	16.5%	$165,000	$160,670	$142,850-$169,775	19.3%	$150,000	$148,316
Computers/Electronics	7.6%	$155,000	$161,875	$153,750-$166,250	3.3%	$152,500	$151,900
Finance	19.9%	$175,000	$175,419	$160,000-$183,750	22.6%	$170,000	$163,386
Investment Banking/Brokerage	6.2%	$175,000	$180,000	$175,000-$185,000	6.5%	$175,000	$172,955
Investment Management	3.8%	$165,000	$166,364	$157,500-$172,500	3.6%	$170,000	$165,909
Private Equity	2.4%	$180,000	$175,000	$163,750-$185,000	4.2%	$155,000	$156,492
Venture Capital	3.8%	$156,800	$197,560	$146,250-$175,000	4.4%	$140,000	$151,750
FinTech	0.7%	–	–	–	1.5%	$160,000	$157,000
Diversified Financial Services	3.0%	$150,000	$148,375	$140,000-$171,000	2.4%	$166,500	$166,250
Media/Entertainment/Sports	1.4%	$140,000	$190,000	$130,000-$225,000	2.0%	$137,500	$135,000
Retail/CPG	2.7%	$146,250	$146,688	$137,500-$156,500	3.6%	$141,000	$140,100
Other Service (incl Real Estate)	1.4%	$147,500	$143,750	$141,250-$150,000	1.8%	$125,000	$130,500
Healthcare/Pharma/Biotech	5.8%	$147,500	$150,000	$136,250-$160,000	6.8%	$145,000	$150,750
Auto/Aerospace	2.1%	$147,000	$146,500	$137,500-$157,000	3.3%	$160,000	$151,727
Energy	2.7%	$160,000	$151,667	$152,500-$163,750	2.0%	$150,000	$142,143
Other Manufacturing (incl Telecom, Agritech & Chemicals)	4.5%	$157,500	$151,292	$150,000-$160,000	2.0%	$140,000	$145,000
Nonprofit	0.7%	–	–	–	1.2%	$132,500	$122,750
Government	1.0%	$125,000	$127,333	$117,500-$136,000	0.6%	–	–

Source: MIT Sloan employment reports

MEDIAN TOTAL COMPENSATION FOR 2023 SLOANIES GROWS 6.4%

The solid payday reported by MIT’s MBA Class of 2023 includes a 3% bump in median salary to $170K from $165K, putting the Sloan School just behind its M7 peers Harvard Business School, Wharton, and Northwestern Kellogg, all of which reported a median salary of $175K this fall; Chicago Booth, which reported a median $180K; and Stanford GSB, which reported a median $182,500. Median signing bonus for Sloanies was flat at $30,000, and median other compensation grew to $40,000 from $34,000.

For the first time, Sloan offers a granular description of what other comp comprises: relocation and moving expenses, tuition reimbursement, or stock and equity, as well as other expected compensation like performance and retention bonuses. Among the 65.3% of the Class of 2023 that reported receiving additional forms of compensation, the most commonly reported were relocation and moving expenses (43.0%) and stock and equity (24.5%). “Stock options and equity offered a significant boost in compensation for some,” Brennan writes. “For the 24.5% reporting receiving stock and equity compensation, the median value was $105,000. The average value was nearly double that, buoyed by several high-value stock and equity packages.”

Put it all together and adjust for the percentages receiving signing bonuses and other comp, and MIT Sloan’s MBA Class of 2024 achieved a total compensation median of $217,780, up from $204,700 in 2022. That’s a handsome rate of median pay growth in comparison to previous years:

2019: 7.6%
2020: 3.8%
2021: 8.5%
2022: 4.7%
2023: 6.4%

The 2023 class’s mean salary also grew significantly, by 5.5% to $168,095 from $159,391. Unlike previous years, Sloan included mean signing bonus ($38,989) and mean other compensation ($111,764), allowing for a calculation of mean total compensation: $269,227.

MIT SENT MORE MBAs INTO TECH IN 2023 THAN 2022

Brennan writes that candidates from the Classes of 2023 and 2024 accepted opportunities at 290 companies in the consulting, tech, finance, healthcare, and other industries. More than half (52.2%) accepted roles with the school's top employers – those hiring three or more MIT Sloan MBAs during the year (see table at the bottom of this page), a list that includes both longstanding and new recruiting partners: 125 new companies across a variety of industries. Sloanies also accepted jobs at 68 startup-level companies.

As it has been in every class since the pandemic, consulting was the top industry overall for Sloanies, this year with 33.7%, up from 31.2% in 2022. At a time when most B-schools have seen slippage in tech jobs, MIT actually sent more into the beleaguered industry: 24.1%, up from 22.6%; the increase put tech in second place over finance, which dropped to 19.9% from 22.6%. The top-paid MBAs in 2023 were the consultants, who made a median $190K, up from $175K last year; or by average the venture capitalists, who comprised 3.8% of the class and made a mean salary of nearly $200K, up from $151,750. Lowest-paid by median and mean were the 1% in government: $125K and $127,333, respectively.

Another change in this year's employment report is that Sloan stopped reporting low and high salary numbers for graduates by industry, switching instead to 25th and 75th percentiles. The highest 75th percentile was in media/entertainment/sports ($225K), and the lowest 75th was in government ($136K); the highest 25th percentile was in both investment banking and consulting ($175K), and the lowest 25th was in nonprofit ($110K).

MORE SLOANIES GO WEST TO SEEK THEIR FORTUNE

Sponsorship and entrepreneurship rates have fluctuated significantly for Sloan MBAs going back to pre-pandemic classes. In 2022, the proportion of entrepreneurs in the class exploded, and only slightly declined this year. Meanwhile those who are sponsored by their employers and planning to return has dropped two years in a row and is now at a five-year low:

2019: 11.4% sponsored and planning to return to their companies; 6.7% starting own business
2020: 14.1% sponsored; 3.5% entrepreneurs
2021: 18.7% sponsored; 4.2% entrepreneurs
2022: 13% sponsored; 10.3% entrepreneurs
2023: 10.8% sponsored; 8.3% entrepreneurs

Where do Sloanies go to work? Last year, a majority of MIT MBAs chose the Northeast corridor: 53.7%, split about evenly between Boston and New York, with the latter group matching the high median base salary of $175K that was also found in Chicago and Miami. Nineteen percent chose the West Coast; only 6% found work outside the U.S., with half of those going to Europe. This year, the Northeast contingent shrank to 44.7%, again split evenly between Boston and New York, and paid evenly, too (though New Yorkers made a higher mean salary, $179,899 to $168,588). The West Coasters grew to 23.7%, and the 12.4% who found work in the San Francisco Bay Area were paid the highest of all grads, at a median of $180K. Those who left the States for work grew to 7.2% of the class.

As it is every year, "growth potential" was the top reason Sloan MBAs accepted their position, down to 38.6% from last year's 42.3% but higher than pre-pandemic years going back to 2015. "Sustainability," which had grown by leaps and bounds in 2019 as a cause for Sloan MBAs to take a job, then cratered from 4.3% to 0.9% the next year before notably bouncing back in 2021, grew for a third straight year to 4.3%. "Compensation" more than doubled to 9.6%. See table below.

TOP REASON SLOAN MBAs ACCEPTED A POSITION 2015-2023

Reason	Class of 2023	Class of 2022	Class of 2021	Class of 2020	Class of 2019	Class of 2018	Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Growth Potential	38.6%	42.3%	40.7%	43.6%	44.3%	35.3%	33.3%	37.5%	31.4%
Job Function	17.5%	15.1%	17.9%	19.3%	16.8%	23%	19.8%	14.8%	24.8%
Industry	10.7%	13.5%	17.1%	11.1%	11.1%	16.0%	9.3%	11.7%	11.3%
Compensation	9.6%	4.2%	3.3%	2.5%	2.1%	1.5%	2.3%	2.1%	2.0%
People/Corporate Culture	7.9%	11.9%	7.7%	8.6%	7.1%	10.5%	9.6%	13.4%	9.2%
Commitment to Sustainability	4.3%	2.9%	2.8%	0.9%	4.3%	0.4%	3.3%	1.4%	1%
Prestige of Firm	3.2%	5.1%	5.7%	3.7%	5.7%	4.4%	8.3%	4.9%	6.1%
Location	3.2%	1.9%	2.0%	3.7%	5.7%	5.8%	5.9%	8.2%	4.4%
Commitment to Social Impact	2.5%	1.9%	2.8%	4.1%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Other	2.5%	1.2%	NA	2.5%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Source: MIT Sloan employment reports

CONSULTING INTERNSHIPS GROW; HIGHEST-PAID ARE INVESTMENT BANKERS

The MBA Class of 2024 accepted internships in finance (29.5%), consulting (25.6%), and technology (20.1%). Beyond the big three, healthcare/pharma/biotech (5.8%) was the most significant industry for internship-seeking students.

In accepting summer offers, Sloan MBA interns were most motivated by the position’s industry (26.3%) and job function (24.6%). The school reports an increase in the percentage of students accepting roles in consulting for the summer of 2023, up from 22.2% in the summer of 2022, "which, combined with increases in internships in the energy, other manufacturing, and entertainment/media/sports industries, balanced out reduced hiring by large technology companies this year."

The top intern salary was reported by the 5.8% of the Class of 2024 in investment banking/brokerage, who made a median weekly salary of $14,500; lowest weekly pay was the $3,200 reported by the 2% in government positions.

A DECADE OF THE TOP EMPLOYERS OF MIT SLOAN MBAs

Company	2023 Hires	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
McKinsey & Co.	26	21	30	20	12	22	26	26	31	32
Amazon	20	18	12	19	10	27	30	23	22	16
Bain & Co.	25	11	11	13	19	15	19	17	12	17
BCG	23	47	29	36	36	24	21	14	14	15
Google	3	12	9	14	15	10	3	9	14	9
Deloitte	6	5	3	3	3	9	11	6	13	9
Amgen	1-2	4	3	4	7	1-2	3	3	1-2	1-2
Capital One	3	5	3	1-2	1-2	0	0	0	1-2	0
Fidelity Investments	3	1-2	1-2	3	3	6	3	3	1-2	1-2
Goldman Sachs	6	8	3	4	3	6	3	3	3	3
Analysis Group	3	1-2	0	3	3	5	3	1-2	3	3
Microsoft	1-2	3	3	3	3	5	8	8	7	3
Tesla Motors	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	5	1-2	3	1-2	1-2
Wayfair	1-2	1-2	1-2	4	3	5	1-2	3	3	1-2
Ford Motor	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	4	3	0	0	0
IBM	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	3	1-2	1-2
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	3	3
LEK Consulting	1-2	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	3	1-2
Apple	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	7	10
Parthenon-E&Y	3	1-2	0	0	4	3	3	3	6	3
Boeing	1-2	1-2	1-2	0	1-2	3	1-2	3	5	1-2
PwC Strategy&	4-6	3	0	1-2	4	3	3	3	3	9
Nike	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	3	3	3
Morgan Stanley	3	3	4	3	1-2	1-2	3	1-2	5	3
Facebook/Meta	1-2	3	3	3	3	3	6	1-2	3	3
Anheuser-Busch InBev	0	1-2	1-2	1-2	3	3	5	3	3	3
Cisco Systems	0	1-2	3	1-2	1-2	3	5	3	3	1-2
Verizon	9	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	0	0	3
NextEra Energy	6	3	0	1-2	3	3	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2
Re:Build Manufacturing	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Caterpillar	3	0	0	1-2	1-2	0	0	1-2	0	0
Evercore	3	3	3	3	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2
NVIDIA Corporation	3	3	0	0	0	1-2	1-2	0	0	0
Samsung	3	0	1-2	0	3	3	6-9	5-7	2-4	5-7
Verkada	3	1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0