Management consulting is among the sectors in which graduates are increasingly walking straight from the lecture hall into six-figure roles – earning pay packets most people will never see in their lifetimes. In Big Tech, entry-level software engineers are often starting on such wages. At the largest banking corporations, pay for first-year analysts has spiked nearly 30% – a $110,000 (£83,979) base salary, in some cases. At the biggest London law firms, some newly qualified solicitors begin their careers on a £107,500 salary ($141,115). Nguyen says “20-year-olds earning $100,000 from the get-go” has increasingly become the norm since the pandemic.