What does the workforce data show across McKinsey, BCG, and Bain?
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
McKinsey: 36,135 employees, -6% YoY growth (the only firm shrinking in the set), 28% attrition (highest of the three by 9-10 points), 8,238 hires, 460 open jobs (1.3% of base). All five top growing skills are negative: Econometrics -4%, Python -5%, R -6%, Financial Economics -7%, C -8%.
BCG: 39,369 employees (the largest of the three), +11% YoY growth, 18% attrition, 10,569 hires, 1,134 open jobs (2.9% of base). Top growing skills are positive: Microsoft BI Suite +16%, Power Apps +16%, Power BI +16%, Python +13%, Data Visualization +12%.
Bain: 21,600 employees (smallest of the three), +6% YoY growth, 19% attrition, 4,975 hires, 343 open jobs (1.6% of base). Top growing skills are the highest in absolute terms: Power Apps +24%, JavaScript +22%, MS BI Suite +22%, Power BI +21%, HTML +17%.
Talent Moat Score: BCG 63, Bain 61, McKinsey 44. McKinsey sits 17-19 points below BCG and Bain on the composite.
Note on McKinsey's attrition number: part of the 28% attrition and -6% growth reflects the 2024 layoffs, so some of the attrition is structurally forced. The negative growing skills are not a layoff artifact — those reflect skills no longer being developed inside the firm.
MBB Workforce Snapshot — 2026
36,135
McKinsey Employees
-6% YoY (shrinking)
39,369
BCG Employees
+11% YoY (now largest)
21,600
Bain Employees
+6% YoY
28%
McKinsey Attrition
Highest — partly layoff-driven
18%
BCG Attrition
MBB median
19%
Bain Attrition
MBB median
Talent Moat Score — MBB Direct Comparison
Firm
Acquisition (20)
Retention (20)
Skills (20)
Intent (20)
Pedigree (20)
Total
BCG
12
5
16
12
18
63
Bain
12
5
20
6
18
61
McKinsey
12
5
3
6
18
44
Talent Moat Score — Visual
63
61
44
BCG
Bain
McKinsey
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Analyst
Walk me through the declining growing-skills signal at McKinsey.
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
McKinsey's top growing skills, all negative: - Econometrics: -4% - Python: -5% - R: -6% - Financial Economics: -7% - C (programming): -8%
All five are quantitative or technical capabilities. Python and R are the operating languages of QuantumBlack and broader data analytics work. Econometrics and Financial Economics underpin economics, public policy, and corporate finance practices. C is core to software / systems engineering.
Same metric at BCG: MS BI Suite +16%, Power Apps +16%, Power BI +16%, Python +13%, Data Visualization +12%. All five positive, all technical.
Same metric at Bain: Power Apps +24%, JavaScript +22%, MS BI Suite +22%, Power BI +21%, HTML +17%. All five positive. Bain's HTML and JavaScript signals are distinctive — front-end and customer-facing application capability appearing in a strategy firm's top skill mix.
The cross-firm number to anchor on: Python. McKinsey -5%, BCG +13%. McKinsey's Python-skilled population is shrinking; BCG's is growing at 13% YoY. The other AI/ML-adjacent skills (R, Econometrics) move in the same direction.
Top Growing Skills by Firm
#
McKinsey
BCG
Bain
1
Econometrics (-4%)
MS BI Suite (+16%)
MS Power Apps (+24%)
2
Python (-5%)
MS Power Apps (+16%)
JavaScript (+22%)
3
R (-6%)
MS Power BI (+16%)
MS BI Suite (+22%)
4
Financial Economics (-7%)
Python (+13%)
MS Power BI (+21%)
5
C Programming (-8%)
Data Visualization (+12%)
HTML (+17%)
Top Growing Skills — Net Direction by Firm
5 of 5 NEGATIVE
McKinsey Top Skills
Capability contraction
5 of 5 POSITIVE
BCG Top Skills
Broad technical build
5 of 5 POSITIVE
Bain Top Skills
Most aggressive build (24% top)
McKinsey gap widening
Strategic Implication
36-month risk to AI/data positioning
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Analyst
Show me the inter-firm talent flows across McKinsey, BCG, and Bain.
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
BCG — Top Inflows & Outflows
Hiring From
Deloitte
113
Accenture
91
EY
86
McKinsey
57
PwC
55
BCG
Departures To
39Bain
37Google
35Deloitte
34McKinsey
33EY
Bain — Top Inflows & Outflows
Hiring From
Deloitte
64
Accenture
51
EY
49
McKinsey
34
Kearney
32
Bain
Departures To
47BCG
46Alvarez & Marsal
27Goldman Sachs
0EY-Parthenon
0Deloitte
McKinsey — Top Inflows & Outflows
Hiring From
Deloitte
79
EY
56
Accenture
49
BCG
41
Amazon
37
McKinsey
Departures To
52BCG
50Google
36Amazon
34Bain
37Deloitte
Inter-firm flows from McKinsey: - McKinsey ↔ BCG: McKinsey lost 52 to BCG, hired 41 from BCG → net -11 to BCG - McKinsey ↔ Bain: McKinsey lost 34 to Bain, hired 0 captured → net -34 to Bain
Inter-firm flows from BCG: - BCG ↔ Bain: BCG lost 39 to Bain; net direction likely positive based on inflows captured - BCG ↔ McKinsey: BCG hired 57 from McKinsey, lost 34 to McKinsey → net +23 from McKinsey - BCG ↔ Big 4: net +78 from Deloitte, +91 from Accenture, +53 from EY
Inter-firm flows from Bain: - Bain ↔ BCG: Bain lost 47 to BCG, hired 0 captured → net -47 to BCG - Bain ↔ McKinsey: Bain hired 34 from McKinsey, lost 0 captured → net +34 from McKinsey - Bain ↔ PE / IB: net -46 to Alvarez & Marsal, -27 to Goldman Sachs
Net positions across the three: - BCG: +23 from McKinsey, ~+30 vs Bain — net positive across both peers and across Big 4 - Bain: +34 from McKinsey, -47 to BCG — net positive vs McKinsey, net negative vs BCG, net outflow to PE / IB - McKinsey: -11 to BCG, -34 to Bain — net negative against both peers
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Analyst
Pull the Big Tech outflow data across the three firms.
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
Big Tech outflows captured by firm (trailing 12 months): - McKinsey: net -50 to Google, -36 to Amazon. Total visible Big Tech net loss ~ -50. - BCG: -37 to Google. No major Amazon outflow captured. - Bain: No major Big Tech outflows captured in the top destinations.
Bain's named outflow concentrations sit in PE / IB instead: -46 to Alvarez & Marsal, -27 to Goldman Sachs.
McKinsey shows the largest Big Tech outflow of the three. Bain's outflows sit in PE / IB. BCG's outflows are smaller in volume and split between Big Tech and Big 4.
MBB Outflows to Big Tech (trailing 12 months)
Firm
→ Google
→ Amazon
Total Big Tech Loss
Alumni Conversion Signal
McKinsey
50 net
36 (1 net)
Highest
Tech-heavy → revenue conversion risk
BCG
37
Not in top
Moderate
Industry-balanced — better conversion
Bain
Not in top
Not in top
Low captured
PE-heavy — strongest revenue conversion
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Analyst
What does the school pedigree data show across the three firms?
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
Top 5 schools by firm: - McKinsey: INSEAD, Wharton, LSE, Harvard Business School, Oxford. - BCG: Wharton, LSE, INSEAD, Bocconi, HBS. - Bain: INSEAD, Wharton, Bocconi, HBS, Kellogg.
INSEAD, Wharton, and HBS appear in all three top-5 lists.
Where the lists differ: - McKinsey is the only one with Oxford in the top 5. McKinsey and BCG both include LSE. - BCG and Bain both include Bocconi (Milan, finance-heavy). McKinsey does not. - Bain is the only one with Kellogg in the top 5 (consumer / operations focus).
All three firms recruit from overlapping elite MBA pools at the top; the distinctive schools at the margin are Oxford (McKinsey only), Bocconi (BCG and Bain), and Kellogg (Bain only).
MBB Top Schools — Recruiting Source Comparison
#
McKinsey
BCG
Bain
1
INSEAD
Wharton
INSEAD
2
Wharton
LSE
Wharton
3
LSE
INSEAD
Bocconi
4
Harvard Business School
Bocconi
Harvard Business School
5
Oxford
Harvard Business School
Kellogg
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Analyst
What do the AI / data skill numbers look like at the firm level — QuantumBlack vs BCG X vs Bain Vector?
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
BCG X (BCG): BCG's top growing skills are MS BI Suite +16%, Power Apps +16%, Power BI +16%, Python +13%, Data Visualization +12%. All five positive, all technical/analytics. BCG's net inflows include +78 from Deloitte, +91 from Accenture (consulting talent moving into BCG at scale).
Bain Vector / Bain Innovation & Design (Bain): Bain's top growing skills are Power Apps +24%, JavaScript +22%, MS BI Suite +22%, Power BI +21%, HTML +17%. The HTML and JavaScript signals indicate front-end / customer-facing application capability — a skill mix not typical of strategy firms.
QuantumBlack (McKinsey): McKinsey's top growing skills are all negative: Python -5%, R -6%, C -8%, Econometrics -4%, Financial Economics -7%. These are the skill domains QuantumBlack is built around.
Cross-firm comparison on AI/data skill direction: - BCG: five positive technical skills, +12% to +16% - Bain: five positive technical skills, +17% to +24% - McKinsey: five negative technical skills, -4% to -8%
AI / Data Skill Growth — Firm Comparison
BCG (BCG X)
Healthy
Top growth skillMS BI +16%
Capability spreadBroad
IntegrationMature
WINNING — broadest tech build in MBB
Bain (Vector)
Healthy
Top growth skillPower Apps +24%
Capability spreadAggressive
IntegrationBuilding
RISING — fastest skills growth, smaller base
McKinsey (QuantumBlack)
Alert
Top growth skillAll NEGATIVE
Capability spreadContracting
BrandStrong (still)
AT RISK — brand intact, capability eroding
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Analyst
Stack-rank the largest gaps the data shows at McKinsey.
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
Stack-ranked, the largest gaps in McKinsey's talent data:
Gap 1: technical / AI skills are declining at McKinsey while growing at peers. Python -5%, R -6%, C -8%, Econometrics -4%, Financial Economics -7%. BCG and Bain show all five of their top growing skills positive in the same skill domain (Python +13% at BCG; Power Apps +24%, JavaScript +22% at Bain).
Gap 2: net talent outflow to peer firms. McKinsey is net -11 to BCG and net -34 to Bain in the trailing 12-month captured flows. McKinsey did not capture any inflow from Bain back to McKinsey.
Gap 3: Big Tech outflow. McKinsey's named outflow concentrations include -50 to Google and -36 to Amazon — the largest visible Big Tech outflow of the three firms.
Gap 4: attrition at 28%, the highest of the three firms. Part of this reflects the 2024 layoffs (structurally forced); the remainder runs ahead of BCG (18%) and Bain (19%).
Gap 5: headcount direction. McKinsey is the only firm in the set with negative YoY growth (-6%). BCG +11%, Bain +6%.
Where the data is strongest at McKinsey. Top-5 school list still leads in academic prestige (INSEAD, Wharton, LSE, HBS, Oxford). Hires volume (8,238) is second only to BCG (10,569). The 460 open jobs (1.3% of base) is the lowest open-job rate of the three.
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Analyst
Pull the Open-to-Work signal across the three firms.
LinkedIn Talent Data Insights
Open-to-Work headline numbers (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026): - McKinsey: 30% OTW (11,000 of 37,000 captured profiles) — highest rate of the three. - BCG: 28% OTW (11,000 of 40,000) — same absolute count as McKinsey on a larger base. - Bain: 27% OTW (6,000 of 22,000) — lowest rate.
All three firms sit between 27% and 30% on Open-to-Work share.
Rediscovered candidates by firm: - McKinsey: 88 rediscovered (2.4 per 1,000 employees) - BCG: 67 rediscovered (1.7 per 1,000 employees) - Bain: 87 rediscovered (4.0 per 1,000 employees)
Bain has the lowest public Open-to-Work rate but the highest rediscovered-candidate density per 1,000 employees.
McKinsey skill-level Open-to-Work concentrations: - Strategy: 6,200 OTW (34% of the 18,000 Strategy-skilled population) - M&A: 788 OTW (34% of the M&A-skilled cohort)
Skill-level detail across all three firms follows.
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Analyst
Show me the skill-level Open-to-Work pattern across the three firms. Where is each firm's signal concentrated?
McKinsey runs the highest OTW% in every skill category in the comparison.
Absolute OTW pool sizes for the top McKinsey concentrations: - Data Analytics: 3,100 at McKinsey (42%), 2,400 at BCG (37%), 1,400 at Bain (36%) - Strategy: 6,200 at McKinsey (34%), comparable shares at BCG and Bain - M&A: 788 at McKinsey, 720 at BCG, 556 at Bain — 2,064 combined across the three
Per-firm skill detail follows.
McKinsey & Company Open-to-Work Aggregate (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
37,000
Employees on LinkedIn
Total McKinsey & Company captured profiles
11,000
Open to Work
30% of captured profiles
4,300
Active talent
12% — actively job-searching
88
Rediscovered candidates
Engaged with recruiters previously
McKinsey & Company Open-to-Work by Skill (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
Skill
Captured
Open to Work
% OTW
Active talent
% Active
Strategy
18,000
6,200
34%
2,600
14%
Management Consulting
21,000
7,100
34%
2,800
13%
Financial Analysis
8,800
3,400
39%
1,600
18%
Mergers & Acquisitions
2,300
788
34%
427
19%
Data Analytics
7,300
3,100
42%
1,400
19%
Project Management
18,000
6,700
37%
2,900
16%
Operations Management
10,000
4,100
41%
1,900
19%
Marketing
11,000
4,200
38%
1,800
16%
Boston Consulting Group Open-to-Work Aggregate (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
40,000
Employees on LinkedIn
Total Boston Consulting Group captured profiles
11,000
Open to Work
28% of captured profiles
4,400
Active talent
11% — actively job-searching
67
Rediscovered candidates
Engaged with recruiters previously
Boston Consulting Group Open-to-Work by Skill (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
Skill
Captured
Open to Work
% OTW
Active talent
% Active
Strategy
18,000
5,800
32%
2,800
16%
Management Consulting
27,000
8,500
31%
3,800
14%
Financial Analysis
9,500
3,300
35%
1,600
17%
Mergers & Acquisitions
2,200
720
33%
406
18%
Data Analytics
6,500
2,400
37%
1,200
18%
Project Management
19,000
6,200
33%
3,000
16%
Operations Management
10,000
3,500
35%
1,800
18%
Marketing
12,000
4,000
33%
1,900
16%
Bain & Company Open-to-Work Aggregate (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
22,000
Employees on LinkedIn
Total Bain & Company captured profiles
6,000
Open to Work
27% of captured profiles
2,400
Active talent
11% — actively job-searching
87
Rediscovered candidates
Engaged with recruiters previously
Bain & Company Open-to-Work by Skill (LinkedIn Recruiter, May 1 2026 data)
Skill
Captured
Open to Work
% OTW
Active talent
% Active
Strategy
11,000
3,300
30%
1,600
15%
Management Consulting
12,000
3,500
29%
1,600
13%
Financial Analysis
5,500
1,800
33%
946
17%
Mergers & Acquisitions
1,700
556
33%
352
21%
Data Analytics
3,900
1,400
36%
792
20%
Project Management
9,200
3,100
34%
1,500
16%
Operations Management
5,100
1,700
33%
924
18%
Marketing
7,500
2,300
31%
1,100
15%
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