Placements at premier institutes this season are feeling the impact of the global economic slowdown. The latest report on campus placements from IIT Bombay reveals that 36 per cent of its students are yet to secure jobs in the current placement season.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, approximately 712 out of the 2,000 registered students are still without job offers this session.
"It was a struggle to invite companies to the campus compared to last year due to the global economic meltdown," said an officer from IIT Bombay's placement cell, as quoted by HT.
"The majority of companies faced challenges in accepting the salary packages predetermined by the institute, requiring several rounds of negotiation before they agreed to participate," the officer added.
The officer noted that, for the first time, students registered in the Computer Science and Engineering branch, typically highly sought-after, did not achieve full placement among those enrolled.
The placement process at IIT Bombay is currently in progress and will continue until May 2024.
This year witnessed a rise in the percentage of students without placements, with 35.8 per cent remaining unplaced, marking a 2.8 percentage point increase compared to the previous session. In 2023, out of the 2,209 students registered at IIT Bombay, 1,485 had secured jobs, leaving 32.8 per cent unplaced.
A significant number of the 380 companies that participated in the placement drive were domestic, contrary to the usual trend of more international firms.
In January, reports surfaced that 85 students at IIT Bombay received job offers with annual packages worth Rs 1 crore. Later, the institute issued a clarification stating that only 22 students had received packages worth Rs 1 crore.
"The phase-I placements (December 1-20, 2023) incorrectly reported the number of accepted Rs 1 crore plus offers as 85. The correct number of accepted one crore plus offers is 22. All other data reported is confirmed to be correct. The Placement Office of IIT Bombay strongly regrets this mistake," the official statement read