An article published by Businessweek surveyed the job market for MBA graduates and recruitment data at top companies. The main conclusion was that the top recruiters have slightly reduced their MBA hirings recently, while other companies filled these slots and hired up available graduates.

Large companies that have cut their MBA hirings in recent years include Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, Kraft, and Johnson & Johnson. On the other hand, companies like Amazon, Apple, and IBM that did not recruit many MBA’s in the past, filled the void and began hiring graduates in greater numbers. Amazon, for example, increased its recruitment at Michigan, Kellogg, and Berkeley, among others. In 2010, IBM became the top recruiter at Wharton, hiring 13 graduates.

The outcome of these changes is a more diversified job market for graduates and an openness for new areas given the decrease in positions in finance and investment banking.

For example, in the years 2008-2010, Chicago, Wharton, and Columbia sent 123 of their graduates to Goldman Sachs and 99 to Morgan Stanley, a significant decrease from 207 and 125, respectively, in 2005-2007.

An additional interesting finding is that some of the companies that cut MBA recruitment began recruiting B.A. graduates instead; MBA graduates were designated for other positions at the company.

Put Me in Business (applying in less than a year)
Put Me in Business (applying in more than a year)