The CDO has been monitoring the market through daily conversations with employers and alumni to assess how recent global events are impacting recruiting, hiring and compensation. Despite some market instability in 2022, indications signal that employer demand for Sloanies is high and the future market for graduate business talent is expected to grow.
2022 Hiring
On a macro level, hiring projections are very positive. Hiring for all programs – MBA, Master of Management, Master of Finance, and Master of Business Analytics – is expected to remain strong. The GMAC Recruiters Survey found:
- 92 percent of corporate recruiters say they expect to hire new MBA graduates this year. This represents very strong hiring intentions for corporate recruiters compared to past years’ surveys.
- Hiring intentions for graduates of business master’s programs—such as Master of Science in Management, Master of Finance, and Master of Business Analytics— are also high.
- Recruiter responses suggest US companies plan to offer increased starting salaries to newly minted business master’s graduates in 2022.
- For graduates of Master of Finance, Master of Business Analytics, and Master of Accounting programs, median salaries are up versus last year’s survey.
- Looking to the near future, most corporate recruiters agree that demand for new business school talent will increase in the next five years (63%), while 35 percent expect it will remain stable.
The current stability of median salaries in the current inflationary environment puts downward pressure on the real value of salaries. However, benefits packages are evolving and expanding to meet the needs of new graduates, including educational assistance.
Employer Engagement and Market Shifts
At MIT Sloan, employer engagement is where we expect it to be at this time of year. Much of that engagement is with traditional “highway” organizations. The emerging “dirt road” companies and “jungle” startups are more cautious right now. The hiring season for many of those organizations won’t be in full swing until the early spring of 2023, and we will have more insight as we get closer to the new year. Mark Newhall, CDO Director of Employer Relations & Recruiting, and his team are proactively reaching out to the organizations based on students’ career interest surveys and conversations with the team, so please continue to share your aspirational company lists with our team at cdo.mitsloan@mit.edu to help focus our outreach efforts on your behalf.
At a macro-economic level, the market is in the middle of a shift. Companies that hired aggressively during the pandemic are scaling back on hiring and, in some cases, laying off workers. Banks and investment firms, companies that assisted with IPOs, and organizations that received stimulus money during the pandemic are returning to more normal business patterns as capital reallocation shifts. Some tech, retail, lifestyle, and media companies that grew rapidly during the pandemic (Netflix, Rivian, Stitch Fix) are now experiencing revenue losses and reducing headcount. The most notable hiring increases are in the Airline and Hospitality industries (Delta and Hilton Worldwide), as they struggle to hire new staff to support the increase in travel.
Mark Newhall notes that many companies are trimming areas that are not part of their core business. “Candidates who want to reduce their risk can focus on opportunities aligned with the company’s core business.”
Regardless, Sloanies will find opportunities to make an impact and transform the future of business. Jake Cohen, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Master’s Programs, notes that MIT holds a unique position, having earned a reputation for leading transformation. “We have the benefit of being in the right place at the right time. The sun is shining on MIT. The world is focused on the things that are our sweet spot, including technological disruption, sustainability, and DEI.”
New Hiring Trends: Delayed Offers, Accelerated Timelines, and Exploding Offers
Some employers are responding to instability in the market to reduce their risk, and this means they are driving both new and expected trends in hiring this year. As usual in a competitive hiring market, we are working with students navigating accelerated offer timelines and exploding offers, as employers leverage this strategy for securing top talent as quickly as possible. A new trend we are seeing in response to more top-level oversight of hiring: recruiters are making verbal offers and asking for decisions several weeks before they have the formal approval to increase headcount.
We encourage you to check out Company Notes on Career Central for real-time information about companies and their hiring intentions and processes. While we ask all companies to follow our 2022-2023 Recruiting Policies, we recognize some companies deviate from these policies and we want to prepare you in advance. Through Career Central, you can see which companies are following a different schedule for recruiting or offer/accept timing, so you can make note of those differences to more effectively manage your recruiting process and decision making. Regardless of the company’s timelines, we are here to guide you in making decisions that help you reach your next career goal, while also preserving the important relationships you and the school have with these companies. Please reach out to the CDO Recruiting Team or your career advisor if you have questions about your recruiting process or decisions. You can find career advisor contact information under your program community on Your CDO. Email askcdo@mit.edu if you are not sure who to contact.
Career decisions can be stressful; and we hope you won’t manage a high-pressure situation alone! We’ve created a framework we call Career GDP – Good Decision Process to help you get ahead of the recruiting process and prepare to weigh important considerations in the months ahead. Once you receive an offer, we encourage you to schedule an advising session through Career Central , or by reaching out to your career coach, for a holistic review of the offer and for personalized guidance on your decision-making process. Your advisor has a broad and deep perspective on the market and employers, as well as access to proprietary data that can help you make an informed decision.
Taking the time to reflect and discuss your goals with a career advisor/coach can help you feel more confident about your decision and ensure the job you accept is a great opportunity for your next career step!
Warm regards,
Susan Brennan
Assistant Dean, CDO
