Graduate employment outcomes from France’s Grandes Écoles: strong results despite a temporary dip

The 32nd edition of this annual employment survey was conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. As the CGE notes, participation was "widespread", with 199 out of 203 institutions (98%) reaching out to their recent graduates. The result: 103,568 usable responses, enabling a detailed and reliable picture of graduate outcomes. The CGE emphasizes that such "broad participation from institutions" leads to "more accurate data, as each school has its own specific profile and context". Results present a detail of very interesting profiles in terms of employment.

Employment Rates Vary by Field of Study

According to the President of the CGE, last year’s figures (2023) were unusually high due to post-COVID catch-up effects, while this year’s results reflect a return to pre-pandemic levels. Despite economic headwinds and reduced hiring, particularly for executive roles, graduates from the class of 2023 are still integrating into the job market at a very strong rate (85.8%, down 4.7 points from the previous year).

The drop varies across disciplines:

• Engineering graduates show the highest resilience, with a net employment rate of 89.6% (down just 3.5 points);
• Graduates from other disciplines come in at 81.5% (−4.5 points), and Business school graduates (managers) see the sharpest decline, at 81.2% (−6.5 points).

Quick Recruitment

In terms of hiring timelines, recruitment remains quick for all types of schools, though slightly less so than last year (84.6% versus 86.6%).

Still, more than eight in ten graduates were hired within two months. The pace is strong across the board: 86.5% of engineering graduates, 82.3% of management graduates, and 79.7% of graduates from other fields were recruited within two months of graduating. A large portion even signed their contracts before finishing school: 66.9% of graduates had secured employment before graduation, close to last year’s record (68.6%), the highest in the past decade. Nearly all graduates (91%) are "working in jobs that they feel are aligned with their level of qualification".

In terms of type of jobs, post graduates are salaried employees (97.4%). Employment is fairly evenly distributed among small (32.3%), medium (29.4%), and large companies (31.5%), which together account for the vast majority of hires. Permanent contracts have declined slightly (down 1.3 points) after two years of strong growth. The rate stands at 86.6% for engineers, 86% for managers, and 62.1% for other graduates. The proportion of executive positions remains high at 86.4%, and exceeds 90% for engineers.

Managers earn more than engineers

According to the CGE, the average gross annual salary (excluding bonuses) for graduates working in France is €39,010, an increase of 2.2% over the previous year. Salary growth is comparable for engineers (+2.4%) and managers (+2.3%). Graduates from other specializations, however, saw a slight decrease, earning on average 0.6% less than the previous year.

Salaries favor management graduates. On average, they earn about €1,700 more per year (gross, excluding bonuses) than engineers, and €2,200 more than graduates from other specializations. While the gap with engineers is similar to last year, the difference has widened compared to other fields. When bonuses are included, the advantage becomes even more pronounced: nearly €4,400 more than engineers and over €5,200 more than other graduates.

Employment location remains stable

The share of graduates working abroad remains fairly steady: 11.1% last year, compared to 11.7% two years ago. Managers (14.8%) and graduates from other specializations (14%) are more likely to work internationally than engineers (9%).

Among French nationals, 8.4% are working abroad (3.6% in the EU and 4.8% outside it). On the other hand, the CGE notes that international graduates are more likely to take jobs outside France, with 27.2% employed abroad—11.9% in the EU and 15.3% outside it. In most of these cases (58%), it’s a return to their country of origin after completing studies in France.

Domestic employment remains concentrated in the Île-de-France region, especially for managers and graduates from other specializations. According to the survey, nearly three-quarters of all graduate positions in France are based there, while 61.3% of engineers work in other regions.

Strong employment outcomes for women, especially female engineers

The employment rate for men stands at 87.6%, compared to 83.3% for women—a gender gap of 4.3 percentage points, wider than last year’s 3.2-point difference. Among women, engineering graduates show the best outcomes, with an employment rate of 88.1% and the smallest gender gap (2.2 points). In other disciplines, the difference is larger: women report an employment rate of 80.3% in other specializations and 79.6% in management.

Hiring is quick for both men and women: 83.4% of women and 85.3% of men found a job within two months of graduation. However, there are disparities in job characteristics. Women are less likely to have permanent contracts and are less often employed in executive roles. Salary gaps persist as well: men’s average gross salary (excluding bonuses) is 5.2% higher than women’s, although this difference is gradually narrowing.

Few Unemployed Graduates, Few Continuing Their Studies

According to the 2024 survey, 12.2% of graduates are currently job-seeking, a rise of 3.9 points compared to last year’s low of 8.3%. The CGE attributes this to a slowdown in the demand for executive roles in late 2023 and early 2024—just as the new graduates entered the job market.

Some of those not yet employed are pursuing further study, though this remains a minority. Only 3.7% of the 2023 cohort are preparing for a PhD—6.3% among engineers, and far fewer among other graduates. Most PhD candidates are engineers, who represent 93.7% of those pursuing a doctorate. Among them, one in three (35.8%) is a woman.