Companies are actively seeking recent graduates with backgrounds in business, accounting, and finance, while the demand for marketing majors has significantly decreased. The surge in marketing graduates, particularly in the creative aspects of the field involving brand building and advertising, has led to a crowded job market. According to Handshake, a career networking platform, the number of applications for marketing roles has nearly tripled since 2021. This oversupply of marketing graduates, combined with competition from artificial intelligence, has made it increasingly challenging for them to secure employment. A new study from the Burning Glass Institute and Strada Education Foundation found that nearly 60% of marketing students end up working in low-level jobs, even five years after graduation.
The evolving landscape of marketing now requires additional technical skills due to its shift towards being more data-oriented and online-focused, with traditional marketing tasks being replaced by generative artificial intelligence. As a result, the demand for marketing specialists has decreased significantly, while the demand for accounting and finance professionals remains high. This shift in demand has left recent marketing graduates like Olivia Simone and Natalie Zhong struggling to find suitable employment and mentorship, with many opting for non-marketing roles or internships to gain work experience.
Conversely, other undergraduate business majors, such as business management and accounting, are experiencing better prospects, with a much lower percentage facing challenges in finding employment after graduation. Degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) also continue to be highly sought after. This disparity in job prospects for different business majors is leading some students, like Katie Karl, to reassess their career expectations based on the evolving demands of the job market.
Some Business Degrees Are More Desirable Than Others
Employment outcomes five years after graduation
Source: Burning Glass Institute analysis of Lightcast Career Histories Database, 2022
*Includes actuarial science, business statistics, and management science majors.
Marketing graduates’ struggles stand out even more amid a relatively tight US labor market which has plenty of job listings. Andrew Hanson, senior director of research at Strada, said there’s a lack of coordination between universities and employers.
“It’s a general lack of alignment across the entire system,” said Hanson. “The faculty don’t necessarily have a strong sense of what employers are looking for with respect to specific skills they’re teaching.”
Frustrated with the futile job search, Simone plans to go back to school and get a master’s degree in political communications. Zhong said graduate school might be her next step if she can’t find work after her apprenticeship ends.
“I don’t think my marketing degree can get me where I want to go,” Simone said. “I can’t do this for the rest of my life.”