Placement season for India’s top engineering colleges, including the IITs, is facing uncertainty as recruiters adopt a cautious approach. This year, factors like global economic slowdown, geopolitical tensions and a potential US election outcome impacting offshoring policies are influencing hiring decisions. While IT companies remain optimistic, startups, manufacturing, and banking sectors are expected to recruit with measured numbers, leading to a sluggish job market for graduates.
India’s top technology schools are proactively approaching potential employers to secure placements for their 2025 graduates, following the challenges faced by the 2024 batch. Despite uncertainty about hiring numbers, companies are starting to register with the IITs, with some preferring pre-placement offers after internships. Newer IITs are setting minimum compensation levels and focusing on sectors like BFSI and quick commerce to secure placements for their students.
This article compares the placement records of IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur, two of India’s top engineering institutes, highlighting trends in graduation rates, job placements, and median salaries over the past three years.
The annual salary packages for graduating students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have decreased significantly in 2024, with a median salary of ₹15-16 lakh compared to ₹18-20 lakh in 2023. This decline is attributed to a global economic slowdown, industry shifts, and increased competition. Furthermore, the number of unplaced students has risen dramatically, with 38% of IIT graduates remaining unplaced in 2024, compared to 21% in 2023 and 19% in 2022. This trend highlights the challenges facing the job market for engineering graduates.
