New Delhi: The dream of high-paying jobs has hit a dead end this placement season at India’s premium engineering institutes the IITs. With companies scaling back on hiring and offering lower salary packages, students at the end of the tail are being offered annual packages below Rs 10 Lakh.
Many organizations that used to pick half a dozen students have picked one or two at best forcing the colleges to reach out to more companies. Many of those are offering annual compensation of Rs 10-15 lakh. Students have bagged campus jobs at what they believe is a lower pay scale, and are still in the market looking for better prospects on job portals and travelling to different cities to attend job interviews and job fairs.
As per TOI, Professor Suhas Joshi said that the downturn in the world economy has had a major effect on IIT Indore’s campus placements for its 2024 graduating class. The placement season has been difficult since fewer recruiters have been hired than in the prior year. IIT Indore director Professor Suhas Joshi stated, “IIT Indore has taken early steps to offset the impact by tapping into alumni networks and has broadened its pool of potential employers, including PSUs.”
A student at IIT Bombay said, “Companies that till last year picked 5 to 8 students are picking 1 or 2 this year. Several are still not yet hired. From coaching classes to start-ups, some have recently been picked for salary packages of Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000 in phase 2” as per a TOI report.
Another student from IIT-Kharagpur in a conversation with TOI said, “Spectrum Technologies offered Rs 3.6 lakh for trainee engineers and Rs 6 lakh for trainee design engineers. Startoon Labs and Gem Machinery offered Rs 5.5 lakh annually. Skyroot offered Rs 5 lakh. Sri Chaitanya and Next Education offer Rs 4.8 to 6 lakh per annum.”
“The scenario now is that many students are taking up jobs offering the bare minimum threshold salary of Rs 6 lakh a year but are looking for other jobs,” according to the report. To draw in additional employers, students and the placement office personnel are contacting employment sites, negotiating deals with non-profit organizations, and offering advice to final-year students.
In an interview with TOI, Praveen Tyagi, the proprietor of IITians’ Pace, an entrance exam tutoring, stated, “We saw this as an opportunity to pick up talent, even though AI has reduced jobs and international FANG companies did not come to the campus.” Hundreds of IITians took our test, which we used to hire them. Those with strong communication abilities were selected from among the students who delivered simulated online lectures. We are offering Rs 12 lakh a year to 25 kids.”
At IIT Delhi, a significant number are still seeking employment through the Office of Career Services (OCS). As of April 5, out of 1,814 students registered with OCS, 1,083 have secured jobs, leaving approximately 40% yet to find employment. However, the situation appears more favourable for those in undergraduate programs (BTech+dual degree), with 81% of the 903 participants have received job offers.
The professor in charge of OCS, R Ayothiraman, announced plans to hold recruitment drives reserved especially for PhD applicants. Students at IIT-D were introduced to a range of employment roles during their recent placements. An annual package of Rs 19.5 lakh was offered by Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Rs 21.9 lakh by HCL Software, Rs 9 lakh by Tata Consultancy Services, and Rs 7 lakh by Larsen & Toubro.
