At London Business School, Average MBA Salaries Fell In 3 Top Industries In 2023

London Business School’s MBA Class of 2023 employment report reveals declines in job offers, acceptances, and average salary for all three top industries

The downturn in job availability for MBAs graduating in 2023 was not confined to the United States. It was felt in the United Kingdom, too.

London Business School, home to the UK’s premier MBA program, reports this month that 91% of its MBA Class of 2023 received job offers by three months after graduation, down from 94% in 2022 and 93% in 2021. Ninety percent of the class accepted an offer, down from 91% a year earlier and 92% in 2021.

While those declines do not appear as dramatic as those felt by the graduates of some major U.S. programs, coupled with declines in salaries — including the average salary for all three of the school’s top industries — it underscores how challenging the environment was last year, and offers little to suggest the landscape will be less challenging for the Class of 2024.

‘THE LAST YEAR HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING’

Options for London Business School MBAs constricted in 2023. Christian Dummett, executive director of LBS’s Career Centre, writes in an introduction to the new employment report that the 2023 class, which was made up of 65 nationalities, found jobs in 30 countries around the world; that is down from 40 countries in 2022. More than half (55%) of the class chose to start their post-program careers in the UK; but that, too, is down from a year earlier, when nearly two thirds (63%) of graduating MBAs accepted their first post-program jobs in the UK.

Instead of staying in England, LBS MBAs increasingly spread out around the world: 8% found work in continental Europe, up from 7%; 10% in North America, up from 7%; 12% in Asia, up from 11%; and 7% in the Middle East/Africa, up from 6%. But they also became more cautious, with half of the 2023 class switching locations (50%), down from 55%, and 55% switching sectors, down from 58%. Thirty percent switched both, down from 34%.

With options narrowing, it’s no wonder so many more grads chose to go their own way: In 2023, 37 of LBS’s 512 MBA graduates used “the entrepreneurial skillsets developed during their MBA to pursue their own business ventures,” Dummett writes, up from 28 in the Class of 2022.

“The last year has been particularly challenging with many employers reducing their need for talent or withdrawing from the market altogether,” Dummett writes. “Nevertheless,” he adds, echoing past employment reports, “demand for LBS talent continues to transcend borders, sectors and markets.

“Whatever their destination of choice we are confident that, having dealt with the economic environment of the last 12 months, this group of students are well prepared to progress their careers. We wish them all the very best.”

AVERAGE FINANCE SALARY DECLINES MORE THAN 11% IN ONE YEAR

The most popular sector for 2023 grads was consulting, with 45% finding work in the sector, up from 37% in 2022. The MBB consulting firms were the top three employers of LBS grads, with McKinsey leading the way with 64 hires (up from 54), followed by 37 by Boston Consulting Group (up from 32) and 35 by Bain and Company (up from 29). Amazon was the next biggest employer, with 14 hires, but that was down from 25 in 2022.

However, while consulting drew more of LBS’s graduates in 2023 than it did in 2022, the pay was not as good: In U.S. dollars, the average starting salary in the sector was $125,219, down 3.1% from $129,195. Still, that wasn’t as grim as the slide in finance salaries, which dropped 11.6% to $121,870.

Consulting and finance accounted for 71% of LBS’s MBA Class of 2023. The other top sector is tech, which dropped to 21% of the class this year from 29%, and which also saw a decline in average salary, down 4.2% to $110,052 — one year after climbing nearly 10% to $114,929. With those three sectors seeing declines in mean salary, the overall average salary for LBS grads dropped to $120,238 from $124,822, a slide of 3.7%.

There were bright spots, to be sure. As always, maximum salaries and other compensation were impressive: Someone in energy reported a base salary of $239,886, one of a handful of grads whose starting salaries eclipsed the $200K threshold, and someone else in “Other Diversified” — a category that includes Healthcare, Education/Training, Law/Legal Services, Leisure/Travel/Tourism, Sports, and Social Impact — reported other compensation totaling an incredible $1,021,928. See salary details below.

Source: London Business School

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