The placement season for India’s prestigious engineering colleges, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), is off to a shaky start. Recruiters are taking a cautious approach, leaving the batch of 2025 with reason to worry. Let’s dive into the reasons behind this uncertainty and explore the implications for aspiring engineers.
The traditional placement season begins in December for the first-generation IITs, including Kharagpur, Chennai (Madras), Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Roorkee, and Kanpur. The second and third-generation IITs, along with the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), follow suit in August-September. However, many companies are signaling to colleges that their hiring numbers are still undecided. Some are even opting for the pre-placement route, where they select students after an internship and skip the traditional campus placements altogether.
The cautious approach stems from a number of factors. The previous years saw a surge in hiring as companies rushed to fill positions after the pandemic. However, many firms over-hired, and the subsequent global slowdown impacted their business. This resulted in challenges for the graduating batch of 2024. Now, the situation is further complicated by the ongoing wars in Europe and West Asia, inflationary pressures, and the upcoming US presidential election. The election’s outcome will be crucial in determining policies related to offshoring, making companies with global exposure wary about future investments.
The impact of this cautiousness isn’t limited to the IITs. While the information technology (IT) sector, known for its large-scale recruitment, remains positive about campus placements this year, startups, manufacturing, and banking companies are anticipated to hire in smaller numbers. The older IITs, along with management schools, which begin their placements in February, will need to prepare for a potentially sluggish job market.
To navigate this challenging landscape, colleges are proactively pursuing companies rather than waiting for them to approach the campus. Early recruiters this year include Samsung, Accenture, and Larsen & Toubro. Aware that the high-paying recruiters might gravitate towards the established IITs and NITs, other colleges are seeking out new firms and reaching out to their alumni for support. The 2024 placement season is a stark reminder of the current situation as a significant number of graduates from both older and newer IITs didn’t receive job offers even by May-June, when the season concluded.
Despite the uncertainty, there are some bright spots. Some newer colleges anticipate a 3-4% increase in salary packages. Certain roles, such as project management and those with expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), are in high demand. Recruiters believe these specialized skill sets will have a competitive edge. In 2024, high-end trading and software firms offered salaries ranging from 80 lakh to 1.4 crore. This trend is expected to continue this year, albeit with a lower number of positions. The current placement season, with its inherent challenges, presents a complex picture for India’s top engineering colleges. While the IT sector remains optimistic, overall recruitment numbers are likely to be cautious. Colleges, students, and recruiters will need to adapt to these shifting tides and prepare for a more competitive job market.
