IIT students worried as job offers decline by 30% this year: Report

Speaking to the Economic Times, the placement team members at old IITs said a lesser number of students got job offers this year despite the tech institutes anticipating and planning for a testing placement season. 

For the first time, even some computer science engineering students—the most sought-after of the lot—have not been placed in more than a week, according to placement sources. However, in previous years, recruiters would pick up all of these students in the first three to four days of placement, at most.

The situation is especially concerning because, in terms of engineering placements in the nation, the old IITs of Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati, and Varanasi (BHU) set the standard, ET reported. 

Thousands of students compete for spots at these esteemed colleges, with many seeing admission as a path to a well-paying career. IIT students performed better than most even during last year’s placements, when the effects of the tech slowdown became apparent.

However, even these IITs are having difficulty this year. This is due to several issues including fewer applications received per recruiter, some businesses forgoing placements, and a generally depressed hiring mood, which is partly caused by the tech slowdown.

An IIT-Kharagpur student told ET that the recruiters who earlier used to hire around 10 students are now taking 1-2 students each. “Some companies are even leaving the campus without hiring any student.”

“This year, job offers are down by 30%,” another student at an old IIT said. The final placements at old IITs started on December 1, 2023, and the slowdown in job offers is being reported across various sectors including consulting and tech. 

Rajib Maity, the chair of IIT Kharagpur’s career development center, told ET that as of Day 7 of this year, the university had received 1,181 offers. By the end of Day 5 last year, 1,300 offers had been made, the institute had previously stated.

On the other hand, Professor SK Shrivastava, coordinator of the training and placement cell at IIT-BHU received 850 offers as of Friday morning. It received about 1,000 offers in the first four days of the previous year.

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Published: 10 Dec 2023, 11:20 AM IST