Even before finishing an MBA internship at a Top 5 management consulting firm last year, John (last name withheld) locked in a job that would pay well over $200,000.
He was supposed to start work in June.
“But that didn’t happen,” he said, explaining that he’s now been rescheduled to start in November.
The 24-year-old isn’t too happy given that he’s paying $3,500 in rent for an apartment in Hoboken, NJ.
“It feels like I’m wasting money and time while I wait to start working, plus my drive is fading,” he said.
Welcome to Q2 2023, where John is among many highly sought-after new grads who earned their degrees last spring, landed jobs prior to graduation and are now sitting on the bench waiting to start at some of the world’s most respected companies.
Why is this happening? An uncertain business climate has slowed demand, but employers want to be ready to go when things improve.
Many start dates are delayed until later this year, and more than 3 in 10 members of the post-graduate class of 2023 won’t start their new jobs until 2024, according to a survey conducted by Intelligent.
It’s worth noting that employers aren’t necessarily leaving stalled workers high and dry or without options.
Law firm Perkins Coie delayed some start dates to January due to “challenging market conditions that have slowed demand for legal work in several areas of practice,” said managing partner Bill Malley in a memo. However, Malley said the firm would provide affected joiners with $15,000 stipends until they start bringing paychecks home.
Law firm Cooley LLP extended an offer to a select group of incoming corporate associates, offering a $100,000 stipend to defer their start dates for an entire year. (The firm isn’t sharing how many takers there were.)
Amazon, which postponed start dates for some new recruits until the fourth quarter, offered to help address any financial impact, according to a spokesperson.
A delayed recruit at Accenture said that she was offered extra money in the sign-on bonus, but wasn’t sure if she would wait. “I want to work there, but what if the recession actually happens? Then I’m left with no job and no recent experience, living with my parents and loans hanging over my head,” the 22-year-old waiting-to-work grad said, asking us not to share any additional details for fear she’ll be fired before she has a chance to start.
Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, told MBA candidates that if they chose to delay their start dates until April 2024, the company would provide them a payment of $40,000 to work for a nonprofit organization in the interim.
Another option was to receive $30,000 for either learning a new language or participating in an educational program.
The communiqué even raised the possibility of pursuing alternative paths such as becoming yoga instructors or going on safari, for which takers would receive $20,000.
Of course, not everyone with a delayed start date is offered a cushion, or a big enough one, to feel comfortable. For those, “this is a huge wake-up call right out of the gate,” said Manisha Thakor, a Harvard MBA and the author of “MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your ‘Enough’” (Harper Business). “Some will need to learn to pivot at a young age.”
But, “there could be a silver lining,” she said. Thakor, who earned a mint as an investment banker and achieved her financial goals by age 50, wishes that she had taken some time off between grad school and her career in high finance.
“When you go straight from the rigors of graduate school to working 10 hours per day, six days per week, it’s easy to become entrenched in the hustle-culture of more, where your [financial] worth becomes your identity,” she said.
If you’re someone like John, whose rent exceeds the stipend his employer-to-be has pledged to provide, “it’s an opportunity to be creative,” said Thakor.
She suggested that John take in a roommate or get a temporary gig until his job starts
Michelle P. King, a globally recognized expert on organizational culture and author of “How Work Works: The Subtle Science of Getting Ahead Without Losing Yourself” (HarperCollins), said that benched employees need to find time to “find ways to get comfortable with the unfamiliar.”
Soft skills are what often separate those who get ahead from those who don’t, and these can be learned and improved upon “whether you’re cleaning offices, making coffee, running a huge company and everything and anything in between,” said King.
Areas for improvement could be in the form of social, networking and customer service skills.
These will be in high demand throughout your career (and in your personal life as well), whether you’re unemployed or looking for a better job.
It could also be an opportunity “to give back to those around you, especially those at the lower end of the economy,” said Brian Elliott, co-founder of Future Forum, a consortium dedicated to building a flexible and inclusive way of working. “It will be hard to find time to do this once you’re working,” he added. (He should know — he went straight from Harvard to the Boston Consulting Group.)
You’ll also win points from future employers for time well-spent. Ideas include volunteering at a local food bank or legal aid society, mentoring and tutoring young people or organizing corporate days of service.
Whatever the outcome, dealing with the unexpected is an important skill to have. No matter your situation, “you’re in training for something,” said Thakor.