During the COVID-19 pandemic and the years that followed, many MBAs turned to tech and consulting for their innovation, pay, and flexibility. But tech started a very public worker purge in 2022 which continued through the first half of this year. Business students are recalibrating.

Other newcomers to the top 10 included Deloitte, BlackRock, and Bank of America, signaling renewed interest in firms and industries with established business school pipelines.

JPMorgan Chase was No. 1 for the second straight year while Morgan Stanley made one of the most dramatic moves on the list. It rose 9 spots from No. 12 in 2024 to No. 3.

This year, five of the top 10 most attractive employers for U.S. business students were banks or asset managers. Just three were in tech.

Universum, the global employer branding firm, surveys more than 130,000 business, engineering, and IT students across 11 key markets each year to complete its ranking. In the U.S. alone, more than 33,000 students – including thousands of MBAs and business students – shared their career preferences in the 2025 survey.

All three of the top employers in Universum’s 2025 Most Attractive Employers in the U.S. ranking are bulge-bracket banks: JPMorgan Chase took the No. 1 spot for the second straight year, followed by Goldman Sachs (No. 2) and Morgan Stanley (No. 3)

Facebook is now Meta. Google is Alphabet. And amid high-profile layoffs and the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence, tech’s luster has faded . Business students are coming back to their finance roots.

But in 2025? None of them cracked the top three.

That year, three of the top five of the Most Attractive Employers in the U.S. were FAANG: Apple was voted the most attractive by business students followed by Google at No. 2. Amazon was No. 4 another tech behemoth – Microsoft – came in at No. 3.

In 2022, when tech was still flying high, business students wanted to work in FAANG – the now out-dated acronym for the five best-performing American tech stocks of the time (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.)

JPMorgan Chase is the most attractive employer for U.S. business students, signaling a shift to tried and true employment pipelines in an uncertain job market.

Story Continues

“Now it’s shifted, and it’s gone the other direction. It’s a very different market than just a few years ago,” said Jeff Rugg, global account director at Universum, during a recent webinar on the rankings.

In an unsure job market, finance has resurged. Among the top 100 preferred U.S. employers for business students, 34 were finance-related, compared to 23 in tech and just 9 in consulting. Even the MBB firms – McKinsey (No. 27), Bain & Co. (No. 74), and Boston Consulting Group (No. 36) – fell out of the top 20.

Consulting, the other big MBA-destination industry, had only 9 companies on the list. The MBB – McKinsey (ranked No. 27), Bain (No. 74), and Boston Consulting Group (No. 36) – fell out of the top 20 altogether.

“The job market is moving, but not for everyone,” says Paola Ospina, a global account manager at Universum. “Companies are pulling back on entry-level hiring. This generation is facing an employment crisis, and landing a job has become a real challenge for many of them.”

Where MBAs once targeted a short list of “dream” companies, many are now casting wider nets.

FROM PURPOSE TO PRACTICALITY

While students in past surveys emphasized purpose, flexibility, and making an impact, 2025’s survey suggests business students are making more pragmatic decisions.

Career growth and competitive pay are now the top two attributes business students look for in an employer, according to Universum. A respectful workplace culture ranked third.

“There’s a completely frustrated pool of candidates being ghosted by employers, wasting their time,” Ospina says. “They’re not really being valued. And again, it’s all over social media.”

Flexibility still matters, but not necessarily remote work. Only 4% of students said they would refuse a job that didn’t offer remote options. The rest either preferred flexibility or said they could adjust.

“This generation wants to go into the office,” says Ospina, noting that younger grads started college during the pandemic, when campuses were either closed down or heavily restricted. “They are craving that in-person interaction.”

As Rugg notes, companies like JPMorgan Chase and Amazon – both of which require employees to be in the office – are ranked highly by business students.

“It should give confidence to employers in the marketplace,” he said.

THE AI SKILLS GAP

Artificial intelligence was another hot topic in this year’s survey. While 75% of students said they felt positive or curious about working for an employer that uses AI, 57% said they had not developed AI-related skills.

“So there’s a bit of a disconnect,” says Nikki Trifunovic, an employer brand and talent acquisition advisor.

The gap is even more pronounced for women, who reported lower levels of AI preparedness than their male peers. For employers, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. Companies that offer robust training and upskilling could be better positioned to attract and retain early-career MBA talent.

‘MESSY… LITERALLY THE WORST JOB MARKET EVER’

The 2025 Universum rankings land at a tricky moment in the U.S. labor market. On one hand, it is still adding jobs (147,000 in June alone) while unemployment sits at 4.1%. On the other?

“There is growing uncertainty for employers on what’s to happen with the tariffs and all of the policy shifts that are coming,” Ospina says. “We’ll definitely see the full effect of this as we get into the second half of the year.”

In response, many employers are moving into a conservative hiring mode. Budgets are tighter. Teams are being asked to do more with less. And companies are laser focused on hiring the right talent, especially those who can drive digital transformation.

For candidates, especially new grads, the result is a job market that feels pretty bleak. Only 35% of students felt confident that they would be able to find a job after graduation.

The uncertainty feels a lot like the pandemic when companies froze hiring and layoffs were everywhere, Ospina says. Particularly for Generation Z.

“And in their true Gen Z fashion, they’re being very vocal about it all over TikTok and social media. They’re calling it like they see it – messy, and I think, literally, the worst job market ever,” she says.

“All of that frustration we’re seeing online and in the media articles, it’s not just noise. It’s actually showing up in our data too.”

Read Universum’s 2025 report on the Most Attractive Employers In The United States here.

NEXT PAGE: The 100 most-desired employers of B-school students according to Universum’s 2025 survey.

Goldman Sachs was the second most attractive employer for business school students, according to Universum’s 2025 ranking.

Universum publishes its Most Attractive Employer Rankings every year in more than 20 countries. Rankings are a reflection of talent’s overall opinion of employers in their countries. The top 100 companies as ranked by U.S. business students are listed below.

Universum’s 100 Most Attractive U.S. Employers 2025 2025 Universum Rank Company Industry 2024 Rank 1 JPMorgan Chase Banking 1 2 Goldman Sachs Financial Services 4 3 Morgan Stanley Financial Services 12 4 Apple Technology 3 5 Google Technology 2 6 Nike Consumer Goods 5 7 Deloitte Professional Services 11 8 Bank of America Banking 13 9 BlackRock Asset Management 14 10 Microsoft Technology 8 11 Amazon E‑commerce / Technology 10 12 Netflix Media & Entertainment 6 13 Spotify Media & Entertainment 7 14 Fidelity Investments Financial Services 15 15 Charles Schwab Financial Services 20 16 EY (Ernst & Young) Professional Services 16 17 The Walt Disney Company Media & Entertainment 9 18 KPMG Professional Services 22 19 PwC Professional Services 23 20 Wells Fargo Banking 28 21 Blackstone Private Equity 43 22 L’Oréal Groupe Consumer Goods 37 23 American Express Financial Services 33 24 Lockheed Martin Aerospace & Defense 40 25 Berkshire Hathaway Conglomerate 39 26 Vanguard Financial Services 27 27 McKinsey & Company Management Consulting 36 28 Mercedes-Benz Group Automotive 26 29 The Coca-Cola Company Consumer Goods 35 30 Tesla Automotive / Tech 17 31 Capital One Financial Services 45 32 Patagonia Retail / Apparel 24 33 Delta Air Lines Airlines 18 34 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Government 30 35 Nintendo Technology / Entertainment 21 36 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Management Consulting 44 37 Sony Technology / Entertainment 25 38 Warner Bros. Discovery Media & Entertainment 29 39 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Government 34 40 BMW Group Automotive 42 41 Marriott International Hospitality 38 42 Ford Motor Company Automotive 49 43 adidas Retail / Apparel 47 44 Airbnb Travel / Tech 55 45 Estée Lauder Consumer Goods 73 46 PNC Financial Services Group Banking 64 47 Toyota Automotive 41 48 Target Retail 31 49 Edward Jones Financial Services 69 50 PepsiCo Consumer Goods 59 51 Paramount Media & Entertainment 46 52 General Motors Automotive 66 53 IBM Technology 70 54 National Geographic Media / Publishing 32 55 SpaceX Aerospace 53 56 Johnson & Johnson Healthcare 87 57 Boeing Aerospace 51 58 Hilton Hospitality 58 59 Meta Technology / Social Media 85 60 Federal Reserve Government 54 61 Procter & Gamble Consumer Goods 99 62 LVMH Luxury Goods 71 63 United Airlines Airlines 48 64 United Nations International Organization 62 65 Citi Banking 86 66 American Airlines Airlines 52 67 Zara Retail / Apparel 67 68 Adobe Technology 56 69 TD Bank Group Banking — 70 S&P Global Financial Data 91 71 Starbucks Retail / Food 75 72 Mayo Clinic Healthcare 65 73 Barclays Banking — 74 Bain & Company Management Consulting 88 75 Nordstrom Retail 92 76 Southwest Airlines Airlines 63 77 Salesforce Technology — 78 State Farm Insurance Insurance 84 79 UBS Banking — 80 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Government 60 81 Mastercard Financial Services 98 82 Under Armour Retail / Apparel 100 83 Department of Defense (DOD) Government 57 84 Northwestern Mutual Insurance — 85 Department of the Treasury (USDT) Government 90 86 Electronic Arts Entertainment / Gaming 80 87 Visa Financial Services 74 88 Oracle Technology — 89 Robinhood Fintech — 90 Deutsche Bank Banking 61 91 Intel Technology 76 92 Live Nation Entertainment Entertainment 89 93 Honda Automotive 81 94 United States Department of State (DOS) Government 96 95 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Government / Healthcare — 96 Bloomberg Financial Media 82 97 MGM Resorts International Hospitality 94 98 Walmart Retail 93 99 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Government — 100 The Hershey Company Consumer Goods —

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