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The start of placements in India’s top engineering colleges, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), is uncertain and recruiters are taking a cautious approach. Mint explains why the batch of 2025 has reasons to be worried.
How is things going on the recruitment front?
Of the 23 IITs, the first generation schools – Kharagpur, Chennai (known as Madras), Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Roorkee and Kanpur – begin the placement season in December. Second and third generation IITs along with National Institutes of Technology (NITs) start their placements in August-September. Many companies have told colleges that their recruitment numbers have not been decided yet. Some have even said that they would prefer to take the pre-placement route – which is offered to selected students at the end of the internship – and not come to campus at all for the final placement.
Why are companies taking so much caution?
Campus placements for the 2022 and 2023 batches ended in record time as companies recruited freshers after two years of the pandemic and a sudden surge in business and digital demand. But many companies made more appointments than required. Later, some businesses were affected by the global recession. This was a problem for the batch of 2024. Now there are even more adverse circumstances – wars are raging in Europe and West Asia; There is inflation pressure and presidential elections in America. The outcome of the election will determine policies around offshoring. Companies exposed to global markets are remaining cautious.
Will only IITs be affected?
No, however, the information technology (IT) sector – the bulk of the recruiters – is more positive on its campus numbers this year, with startups, manufacturing and banking companies expected to recruit in numbers. Older IITs and possibly management schools (their placements start in February) need to prepare for a sluggish job market.
How are colleges responding?
Colleges are chasing firms and not waiting for them to contact their campus. Early recruiters on IIT campuses this year include Samsung, Accenture and Larsen & Toubro. Knowing that high-paying recruiters may turn to the established IITs and NITs, other colleges are chasing new companies, as well as reaching out to their alumni for help. 2024 season is still on – a large number of IIT graduates, both old and new, did not have offers even till May-June this year, when the placement season ended.
What salary can students expect?
The new IIT may have an average 12-13 lakhs; for big people 20-55 lakhs. Despite the apparent slowdown, some new colleges are expecting a 3-4% increase in salary packets this year. However, some roles are more demanding. Recruiters believe that people who are well-versed in project manager roles or artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to have a competitive edge. High-end trading firms and software firms offered salaries from 80 lakhs 1.4 crore in 2024 and it may be repeated this year but in lesser numbers.
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