At a time when most business schools of the country are finding it difficult to safeguard students' placements and summer internships in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta claimed to have weathered the blow with minimal rescinding of job offers.
Out of the 442 students successfully placed in 2020 with close to 10 per cent rise in pay packet over 2019, only six offers have been revoked by a recruiter amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global headquarter of one recruiter has rescinded six job offers. Another recruiter has taken the internal business decision to postpone the joining date from May to July," IIM-C Placement Committee Chairperson, Abhishek Goel, told PTI.
One startup has communicated business difficulties, but "our latest information is that its job offers to our students are firm", he claimed.
Apart from these, almost all recruiters are moving ahead as per their hiring plans, Goel said, adding, some have already enabled virtual joining. Joining typically takes place between April and August depending on a recruiters hiring plan.
"Given the quality of recruiters, the impact on IIM-C students is negligible, but the situation for other management schools of the country is not that comfortable," an official of a recruitment agency said.
IIM-C Director Anju Seth said the institution has taken a host of measures in view of the coronavirus crisis, including changing the academic calendar for various programs.
"We have also expedited successful transition to new models of online teaching in our programs. We are watching the emergent situation closely and are ready with action plans for various scenarios to facilitate effective outcomes," Ms. Seth said.
IIM-C took a policy decision to allow a mix of virtual and on-field modes of internship to allow digital onboarding of students, due to the lockdown, she said.
Four recruiters have so far rescinded their summer internship offers owing to the changed business scenario, affecting 12 students out of 480.
"Nine of these students have already been provided with new internships. The institute is making all efforts for the remaining three students to find an alternate opportunity," Mr. Goel said.
Several recruiters made alternate arrangements to start the internship as per their original commitment via digital media, leveraging their IT capabilities. Some others deferred the joining dates to April 13 or April 20 to deal with emerging challenges of the lockdown.
At this time, 90 per cent of the employers are expected to start their internships by April 20. While almost all recruiters are giving their promised stipend to the students, two have asked for a cut in it, officials said.
In the summer placements, finance and consulting firms accounted for 43.2 per cent of the offers with several firms also opening international roles.
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