INSEAD’s latest double cohort of students graduated into a challenging job market

Eighty percent of MBAs who graduated from one of Europe’s most prestigious business schools had no job offers three months after they’d graduated, mirroring the decline in the job market for graduates of the elite B-schools in the United States and reinforcing the global nature of the downturn.

INSEAD, based in Fontainebleau, France but with campuses in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco, has released employment data for the 843 MBAs in two cohorts who graduated in December 2023 and July 2024. The conclusion: They had a harder time finding work than any of the school’s classes going as far back as anyone can remember. For comparison, 88% of their immediate predecessors reported having job offers three months post-graduation; the class before that was at 94%. The school regularly posted 90% or better offer rates from the Great Recession up to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The INSEAD MBA Employment Statistics for 2024 highlight the resilience and adaptability of our graduates in an evolving global economy,” writes Rhoda Yap, executive director of INSEAD’s Career Development Centre, in a message attached to the report. “Despite a challenging global hiring landscape, 80% of our graduates secured job offers within three months of graduation. This achievement is noteworthy given the international mobility of our graduates, with career moves spanning an impressive 54 countries — affirming INSEAD’s position as the most global of all business schools.”

SEE P&Q’S COVERAGE OF THE STRUGGLES OF THE MBA CLASSES OF 2024 AT:

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

THE WHARTON SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT 

COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Consulting remained the leading industry, attracting 55% of graduates, down from 61%, followed by Corporate Sectors (21%, up from 16%), Financial Services (13%, down from 14%), and Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (11%, up from 9%).

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