In Europe, where there are relatively fewer b-schools than in the US, and where relatively fewer managers have MBAs, this has always been the case. Getting an MBA in Europe has traditionally been more about gaining knowledge and a skill set than about developing a social (and professional) network, as it is in the US, where b-schools and managers with MBAs are much more common.

But even in the US, where the MBA has historically carried the greatest employment value vis-à-vis sophisticated, on-campus recruiting networks, companies are not only decreasing their demand for MBAs, but are increasingly willing to pay them less and to give them less responsibility. Many recent MBAs, for example, are no longer fast-tracked into management, but are rather given their old jobs at their old salaries, giving the whole MBA experience a nasty, negative IRR.

This is especially the case for MBAs from second tier schools, where post-MBA employment prospects are particularly bleak.

*In general*, companies with strong cultures (such as emphases on teamwork and intellectual honesty) tend to have less need for MBAs, believing that they can train their own employees and hire from within to satisfy their talent needs. Sales-oriented companies, like i-banks and management consulting firms, tend to really like MBAs, no matter how bad the economic climate (although their needs may be less) because they like to hire slick BS artists who are willing to work very, very, hard and who’ll do or say anything to sell a mandate.