This morning, the Financial Times published an article with a fairly self-explanatory title, “BofA [Bank of America] withdraws job offers to foreign MBAs.” Not since the dark days of the tech bust have firms rescinded offers, but this is particularly surprising because the decision targets only foreign MBAs. According to BofA, they have been encumbered by legislation that makes hiring H1B workers difficult, but one can imagine that BofA is in cost-cutting mode and that this is a convenient solution to a practical problem.
As we have reported on our blog, international applications have been declining at some MBA programs, and this news certainly won’t help reverse that trend. We would logically surmise that international MBA applicants will now be even more anxious about their post-MBA prospects. Still, they should remember that right now no one can guess what the job situation will be like in more than two years (or in three or more years, if you are already looking to next year’s admissions cycle). Furthermore, with international applications declining overall, this could be a great time to stand against the tide and be ambitious in applying to top programs, where the competition will subsequently be less.