MBAs from top business schools are finding it difficult to land a job after graduation, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.

Citing factors such as the rise of artificial intelligence and the influx of DOGE causalities flooding the job market in the wake of President Trump’s decimation of the beltway workforce, “even MBAs from top business schools are struggling to get hired,” the Journal reported Jan. 18.

By the numbers, at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business 21% of job seekers were still looking for work three months after graduation last summer, and about 15% of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business grads remained on the lookout, the newspaper reported.

“Those rates are similar to 2024 but sharply lower than 2019, when many employers couldn’t hire enough white-collar professionals. Just 5% of job-seeking M.B.A.s graduating from Duke then were still looking for work three months postgraduation. At Michigan that year, it was 4%,” the Journal reported.

The article parallels news from MBA Pathfinders, which recently reported on 2026 MBA recruiting trends, noting “the job market has been challenging these past few years.”

“I’ve got a lot of students that are still waiting,” Doug Massa, technology relationship manager at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, told MBA Pathfinders. “The companies are still engaging with the students, but haven’t really come back and said, yes or no.” 

So-called internship conversion offers are coming in slower, and there is a hyperfocus on AI questions during interviews, Massa said.

“Budget constraints, shifting priorities, and yes – productivity gains with AI – are common holdups as companies plan for 2026,” MBA Pathfinders reported.

While the outlook is still relatively solid for MBA holders, “the path to those outcomes has changed. Just-in-time hiring, requirements for AI proficiency, and longer decision timelines are the new norm,” MBA Pathfinders reported.

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