Leading consulting firms in the United States have increased starting salaries for entry-level hires for the first time since 2022, responding to heightened competition for talent from technology and artificial intelligence sectors. McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Company have raised base pay for new recruits by between 4 percent and 9 percent, according to recruitment advisory firm Management Consulted, which reviewed offer letters and data related to the changes.
The salary adjustments will take effect for undergraduates and MBA graduates joining these firms in summer 2024. Under the new pay structure, all three consultancies will offer a uniform base salary of $120,000 for undergraduate hires and $200,000 for MBA graduates. Previously, McKinsey and Bain paid $112,000 for undergraduates and $192,000 for MBAs, while BCG’s salaries trailed those figures by $2,000.
This marks a reversal of a three-year trend of salary freezes and flat bonuses, a period during which consulting firms faced reduced growth and less recruitment competition from technology companies. The recent uptick in offers coincides with tech firms recovering from layoffs and ramping up hiring efforts, especially within artificial intelligence labs, which have become increasingly attractive to graduates.
“Big Tech had been going through layoffs and downsizing and we are through that and now seeing their hiring pick up,” said Namaan Mian, chief operating officer of Management Consulted. He noted that AI-focused roles have emerged as viable destinations for new graduates, a trend that was not prevalent three years ago.
BCG’s recent salary increase narrows its previous gap with McKinsey and Bain, reflecting its growing appeal to candidates. Alicia Pittman, BCG’s global people chair, emphasized the firm’s ongoing expansion of its talent base, noting a strong focus on AI engineers, data scientists, IT architects, and deep-industry specialists. She highlighted BCG’s highly competitive recruitment environment, with nearly two million annual applications and an acceptance rate below 1 percent.
The move toward higher entry-level pay occurs alongside a rebound in consulting revenues, partially driven by increased demand for services related to AI implementation. While the sector’s growth has yet to reach the pace seen in the pandemic’s aftermath—when digital transformation projects surged—firms remain optimistic about future workloads.
Despite these positive indicators, some industry observers caution that AI could disrupt the consulting business model in the long term by enabling companies to accomplish tasks internally that they might have previously outsourced to consultants.
Still, Mian sees the salary increases and anticipated rises in performance bonuses as clear signals of confidence among consulting firms about robust demand for their services over the next year.