Anguish at IITs as jobs still distant for many students
Placement concerns stalk the corridors of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as the batch of 2024 draws to a close, with hundreds of students yet to find a job even in the second hiring round.
The elite institutions are reaching out to startups, alumni and recruiters from new segments, and sounding out companies that have previously hired from their campuses, placement team members said. Departments and professors are also asked to pitch in and help place students.
At IIT-Bombay, 300-400 students finishing undergraduate and post-graduate courses are yet to be hired, a member of its placement team said, adding the final numbers may be different. “There were about 1,973 students who had signed up for placements, and about 1,187 from them were placed during the phase-1 process. Another 200 have already been placed in phase-2, and the numbers have increased since the last count,” the person said on the condition of anonymity.
A student at IIT-Delhi who was placed in the first phase said that from every stream, some students are yet to be hired. “The placement team is reaching out to alumni several times, and students were asked to fill up forms on whether they would still want the placement team to get them a job so that the college can keep a track on who needs to be placed. Many are trying on their own as well,” the student said.
At IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IITKharagpur, IIT-Madras and IITKanpur—so-called older IITs— placements begin in December, while the newer ones start ear
lier in August-September. The placements are conducted across two phases a few months apart.
After a year and half of reckless hiring, many businesses entered a downturn, with funds drying at startups, consulting companies hit by clients reviewing work, global conflicts and supply chain disruptions. Companies that had over-hired during the boom of 2021 and 2022 began sloughing off staff, and the domino impact was felt by colleges in both B-school and engineering campuses. This has forced them to chase a wider set of companies and, in some cases, inviting recruiters setting the salary standards lower.
The placement team member cited above said some companies which had hired before this recruitment season were returning with new profiles. “The new session starts in July and we have a month and a week to place the rest of the students. Every call from any company is getting looked into and student interest is checked,” the member added.
Most large IT services companies have decided not to hire from campuses this year.