McKinsey is committed to helping organizations create sustainable and inclusive growth. We help them innovate more sustainably, achieve lasting gains in performance, and build workforces that will thrive for this generation and the next.

Taking a long-term approach to investing in people: 115,000 days of training to consultants

Consistent with this aspiration, McKinsey has historically taken a long-term approach to investing in our own people and capabilities, and to contributing to society more broadly. We invest more than $800 million in research, learning, and skill-building, and we provide 115,000 days of training to our consultants each year. We have pledged to invest $2 billion in cash and in-kind support toward social responsibility efforts by 2030. We have been carbon neutral since 2018, and we will reach net zero within the decade.

Integrating long-termism into operational budgeting

We also integrate long-term thinking into our core budgeting and investment-planning activities. Rather than follow traditional annual and quarterly budgets, McKinsey operates according to rolling multi-year plans, which our executive committee reviews and refines quarterly. Planning against a longer time-horizon ensures our decision-making is not beholden to transitory economic shifts. It allows us to “bet on ourselves” and invest with an eye toward our clients’ and people’s future needs. For example, we increased recruitment during the pandemic-induced recession of 2020.

Autonomy for local offices and practice areas on recruitment goals and investments in new service lines

As a global firm operating in more than 65 countries, a flexible, long-term planning framework empowers regional offices and practice areas to make needed investments based on local context. For example, if a regional office sees opportunities in its talent market, they are free to adjust recruitment goals within broad parameters set by the Firm.  Similarly, our practice areas have the autonomy to invest in new capabilities or service lines based on their needs and the needs of their clients.

McKinsey’s dual mission – to help clients drive sustained improvements and create an unrivaled environment for exceptional people – has never been a short-term one. These aspirations have guided us for nearly 100 years and will continue to do so as we help our clients, and our people, thrive in the years ahead.