Dull placement season at IIT Bombay; 36% students yet to secure jobs: Report

The global economic headwinds seem to have hit the 2024 placement season at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. As per Hindustan Times, 712 of around 2,000 students registered for the 2024 placements in IIT-Bombay are yet to be placed. The 712 students translate to about 36% of all those who have registered.

Lacklustre placement season

The placement season in IIT Bombay began in December and the job season will end in May. Last year too, 32.8% of the registered students remained unplaced. Only 1,485 out of the 2,209 registered students in the institute secured jobs last year.

IIT- Bombay alumnus and founder of Global IIT Alumni Support Group Dheeraj Singh while talking to Hindustan Times attributed the "global economic meltdown" behind the slow placement drive.

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The report quoted a placement cell official and mentioned that it was a struggle “to invite companies to the campus compared to last year due to the global economic meltdown”.

“Most companies were unable to accept salary packages pre-decided by the institute. It took many rounds of negotiations before they agreed to come over,” the official told Hindustan Times.

The Hindustan Times report further noted that a large chunk of the 380 companies that visisted the campus were from domestic market. Usually international firms outnumber domestic companies.

“For the first time, registered students from the computer science and engineering branch, which are most in demand, have not seen 100% placement among those registered,” the official told Hindustan Times.

The report quoted another professor from the institute and said that it is focussing on big packages to maintain the high mark of average salary packages.

“The institute is focused on big packages to maintain the high mark of average salary packages. However, it is not focusing on the salary bagged by an average student – this has created a system where despite getting offer letters, most students reject them later and choose other ways to seek employment,” said a professor from the institute.

Support system for students

Global IIT Alumni Support Group Dheeraj Singh also pointed out the need to create a support system for unplaced students who have high levels of anxiety and stress staring at the bleak job scenario.

"The institute hardly has any placement support for approximately 700-750 students left unplaced in phase two”, Said Singh. This is a disheartening state of affairs in IIT-Bombay, which is ranked the third engineering college in India (as per NIRF). The administration should inform unplaced students how they are going to help them find a job,” he added.

The report also quoted a final year student who spoke the anxiety he experienced during the interview.

“I prepared hard but was unable to tackle real-time pressure and failed to get a job. Some company representatives informed us they cut down hirings by 50% compared to last year,” the Student told Hindustan Times.