MBAs bag higher salaries than engineers: Top B-schools average Rs 27.4 lakh
MBA roles for the class of 2026 offered average salaries that were 52% higher than those for engineering positions. The gap is expected to grow further, with MBA roles for students appearing for placements in 2026, or the class of 2027, projected to offer 59% higher pay than engineering roles.
Deloitte India's Campus Workforce Trends 2026 report reveals that MBA graduates consistently earn higher salaries compared to engineering graduates. MBA roles for the 2026 class offer salaries that are 52% higher than engineering positions, and this gap is expected to widen further to 59% by the 2027 class. For the 2025 class, MBA salaries were 47% higher than engineering salaries.
The report indicates that companies are increasingly valuing management-oriented roles and leadership-oriented talent over purely technical skills. MBA graduates from the top 10 B-schools in India command the highest average annual pay of Rs 27.4 lakh, more than 3.3 times the Rs 8.4 lakh average at tier-3 B-schools. The report also highlights that companies are allocating larger budgets for campus recruitment, leveraging AI in the hiring process, and expanding internship-to-hire programs.
AI is expected to influence campus pay based on factors such as the institute, role, and skills. Candidates with AI and data skills can command premiums of 20-25%. Employers are placing greater emphasis on analytical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical abilities, with premiums ranging from 10-15%. One-year attrition rates among hires from top and tier-1 institutes have declined from 23% to 19%.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
