The job market for MBAs is a hot topic on this sub lately, with a lot of posts about how tough it is for even top grads to land roles today. Nearly every day you see posts on the unusually high unemployment rate among M7 and even HSW grads from 2024.
Many argue that the full-time MBA isn't worth the investment in 2025, when factoring in tuition & living expenses, opportunity costs, and job prospects. Never mind that part-time or exec programs make career pivoting even tougher due to lacking the summer internship, although it may be a good option for those wishing to advance in their current roles.
The usual reasons are thrown around: consulting firms scaling back, tech layoffs, and the economy since Fall 2022. But here’s the thing: while some of that is true, a huge part of the problem is that top MBAs are being way too picky and, frankly, pretty entitled and out of touch.
Let’s start with the market itself. Yes, consulting and tech are pulling back. Consulting firms over-hired during the pandemic, thinking the spike in demand for strategy and restructuring work would last forever. The same goes for tech, where companies hired like crazy during COVID because they assumed the trends around remote work and online services would stick permanently, as well as near zero interest rates. When that didn’t happen, they hit the brakes.
But this isn’t some catastrophic collapse. The broader economy is doing fine, let's take a look at simple macroeconomic data. Unemployment is low, inflation is cooling, and the stock market is thriving. GDP growth is great, inequality is diminishing, and wage growth is improving across society. Even labor force participation is increasing. Finance, a traditional post-MBA destination, hasn't slowed down at the same rate as consulting or tech. Most professional economists would say it's a myth we're in a "white-collar recession."
And other industries besides consulting and tech are still hiring. Sure, there are fewer MBB consulting or Big Tech product management roles available, but that doesn’t mean the market has dried up completely.
Here’s the real issue: MBAs have unrealistically high expectations, often shaped by the marketing of business schools themselves. M7 programs sell the idea that if you get in, you'll have a high chance of walking out with a $200k+ job at McKinsey or Google. For a small amount of people, that works out. But when the market shifts, like it has now, the “dream job” isn’t always there. Instead of adapting, many grads just refuse to settle for less. Because of their arrogance, they're unwilling to take on a less "sexy" role like program management at legacy tech companies like IBM or ADP. At places like HBS & GSB, there's often a social stigma to accepting a T2/3 consulting role.
Industries like healthcare, pharma, defense contracting, automobiles, fast food, insurance, public utilities, federal government, tobacco, government contracting, real estate, and consumer goods are hiring MBAs, but these roles don’t come with the same prestige or the same paychecks as MBB or FAANG. Starting salaries might be $110k to $140k, which is still a fantastic income, but some grads turn their noses up at that because it’s not the $200k+ total compensation they envisioned when they started the program. Even worse, many grads are only targeting "sexy" post-MBA locations like NYC, SF, Chicago, DC, LA, or Philly, because they want to have "fun." Meanwhile, the job market in places like Dallas or Houston are great, but the cities are considered "less fun." The refusal to relocate for a solid opportunity is another example of how some MBAs are limiting themselves.
And let’s talk about the value of the MBA itself. Employers are starting to question whether the degree is worth the premium salaries that grads expect. The vast majority of M7 MBAs demanding $200k careers don't have tangible, hard skills to justify receiving such high salaries.
The issue with many M7 MBA graduates is that they often aim to pivot into entirely new fields. They might say, "I earned $110k pre-MBA and now expect a significant pay increase post-MBA—even while pursuing a completely new career path." But this logic is flawed because the $110k they earned previously was tied to their expertise in their former field, not the new one.
Expecting a $200k salary in an unrelated role, where they lack direct experience, can come across as overly entitled. If they were returning to their prior function with enhanced qualifications, a pay bump would make sense. But demanding top-tier compensation in a new field, without a track record to justify it, raises valid questions about entitlement and unrealistic expectations.
Sure, an MBA teaches you strategy, leadership, and networking, but it doesn’t always deliver the hard skills or domain expertise that employers want right now, things like data analysis, coding, or technical expertise. That’s why engineers, accountants, and data professionals are often doing better in this market while MBAs struggle. The MBAs who do succeed are the ones making fewer career pivots and could prove to employers that they have existing relevant experience.
Companies are still hiring for white collar roles, but they'd rather pay the non-MBA candidate with a few years of experience $90k over the career pivoting MBA grad demanding $160k. MBA grads are too entitled to not realize their first post-MBA job doesn't have to be the "perfect" or "ideal" fit, whether location, industry, or role-wise. It should be good enough as long as it's a step in the right direction and has reasonable pay (and yes $130k is reasonable).
To be clear, some people can afford to be picky. If you come from money or have savings, you can hold out for the perfect role. But for most people, passing on a $110k job because it’s not “good enough” as a $200k job isn’t just entitled, it’s risky. Momentum is important, and and career gaps on your resume can be a death sentence. Sitting around waiting for an ideal role that may never come could set you back in the long run. Same with delaying paying back your MBA loans, which for some people can be as high as $200k.
I've seen some of my M7 classmates make fun of CPG Brand Management roles that pay $115k salary out of MBA. They ignore that $115k is still a really good salary compared to the median personal income in the US. A lot of these roles are in LCOL cities too. These folks made $60-95k pre-MBA, so the $115k is still a positive ROI.
The bottom line is this: the MBA job market isn’t dead, but it has changed. The people who adjust their expectations, consider roles in industries they hadn’t originally targeted, and stay open to relocating to less sexy geographies are the ones who will come out ahead. The ones who don’t? They’ll still be here in six months, posting about how the MBA wasn’t worth it.
If you’re an MBA who’s struggling right now, take a hard look at your expectations. Are you really being limited by the market, or are you limiting yourself? As they say, beggars can't be choosers.
