New Delhi: The 2024-25 placement season across Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has kicked off on a high note with a higher number of companies participating in campus recruitment, an uptick in international offers and public sector undertakings (PSUs) increasing their presence, compared to last year, officials from at least six IITs told ThePrint.
Placement offers in core engineering fields, like civil, mechanical and electrical, are rising significantly, with top companies, such as Bharat Petroleum, Bajaj and Hindustan Petroleum, offering lucrative roles, officials said.
This comes after IITs witnessed a sharp decline in job offers during the previous placement season (2023-24). The situation might have improved this time, but some concerns remain. Several students that ThePrint spoke to at IIT campuses in Bombay and Madras noted that there has been little change in median salaries, compared to last year.
Some IITs have also announced record-breaking offers made to their students. At IIT Kharagpur, the highest offer so far stands at an impressive Rs 2.14 crore, while at IIT (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi, the figure is Rs 1.65 crore. Both the institutes have not disclosed the names of the companies that made these offers.
Meanwhile, according to reports, a student from IIT-Madras has been extended an even more remarkable offer of Rs 4.3 crore by a prestigious Wall Street firm. However, the institute is yet to officially confirm the details.
High salary packages secured by IIT students in campus recruitments often make headlines, with some offers running into crores. For example, last year, IIT Bombay garnered significant attention, when a student received the institute’s highest-ever international job offer of Rs 3.7 crore.
The 2023-24 placement season across IITs was significantly impacted by the economic slowdown, with many institutes reporting a sharp decline in job offers. While the majority of them did not disclose placement details last year, a report released by IIT Bombay in September revealed that fewer students secured placements compared to previous years, while the lowest salary package dropped to just Rs 4 lakh, marking a concerning shift in the job market.
This year, however, the placements have begun on a promising note, signalling a strong rebound.
“The uptick this year reflects a more optimistic market outlook, compared to last year, with increased recruiter participation and higher international offers. It’s a clear indication that companies are once again eager to tap into the rich talent pool that IITs provide,” said the director of one of the legacy IITs, who did not wish to be named.
At IIT Kanpur, the first phase of recruitment for the graduating batch of 2024-25 has concluded with 1,109 offers, extended across a wide range of industries, including pre-placement ones. “Of these, 1,035 offers were accepted by students, with over 250 companies participating in the process,” a senior official at the institute told ThePrint.
IITs are also seeing a significant rise in the participation of PSUs, with prominent organisations like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) joining the recruitment drive, alongside a growing number of start-ups, according to officials at several institutes, ThePrint has learnt.
“This phase also recorded a significant rise in placements within core industries, driven by increased student interest in these sectors. PSUs contributed notably, with BPCL emerging as the top recruiter in this category,” the official at IIT Kanpur said.
The placement season at IITs typically runs from December to May, with final data on the number of placements and salary packages becoming available only in May, once the recruitment cycle concludes.
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Negligible change in median salaries
While students have observed a notable increase in recruiter participation, they have pointed out that there has been only minimal change in median or average salaries.
“The placements are definitely better than last year. We’ve seen a strong response from recruiters, with many companies hiring in double digits. However, I don’t believe that there’s been a significant rise in median salaries. It is more or less similar to previous years,” a final year student at IIT Madras told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
Similarly, a student at IIT Bombay said that the average packages being offered are not up to the mark. “Last year, the median salary at IIT Bombay was around Rs 17.92 lakh. It has not improved much this time. But we hope that the packages being offered increase in the second phase.”
Many IITs have released the data of the offers. For instance, in IIT Delhi, students have secured over 1,200 job offers, including pre-placement offers (PPOs), with about 1,150 individual students being uniquely selected.
“In this phase, students have also received 50+ international offers from 15+ prestigious organisations across multiple global regions, including Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, UAE, United Kingdom, and United States,” the institute said in a statement.
According to IIT Delhi, recruiters with double-digit offers on campus this year so far include American Express, Barclays, BCG, BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle, Deutsche India, Goldman Sachs, Google, Graviton Research Capital, Intel India, Meesho, Micron Technology, Microsoft and OLA, among others.
Naresh Varma Datla, professor-in-charge at IIT Delhi’s Office of Career Services (OCS), said that the institute has had a very good start. “We believe that a similar trend will continue in the upcoming days as well. We are focused on expanding the range of companies and job profiles in the coming days to cater to the students appearing for placements.”
Raju Kumar Gupta, chairperson of the students’ placement office at IIT Kanpur, said, “There has been a significant rise in offers across core industries and international placements. We are optimistic about further growth during phase-two, which will commence in mid-January 2025.”
At IIT Kharagpur, the first phase of the placement process saw over 1,000 offers made within the first three days, with the highest package on Day 1 alone touching Rs 2.14 crore. Similarly, at IIT BHU, a total of 1,010 offers, including pre-placement offers and paid internships, were secured by students as of last week, underscoring the strong demand for IIT graduates across a range of industries.
Other IITs, including those in Bombay and Madras, are yet to release official placement data for the initial phase.
More international offers
According to officials at several IITs, there has also been a significant surge in international offers this year.
IIT Kanpur reported a remarkable 27 percent increase in recruitments by global employers, with 28 students securing jobs abroad, compared to the previous cycle.
IIT Kharagpur has also witnessed a surge in recruitment from top companies across various industries, including high-frequency trading, software, analytics, finance, banking and consulting.
“This year, we’ve seen a notable increase in placements from core engineering companies during the early phase of recruitment, which is remarkable. Additionally, through the campus placement drive, CDC (career development cell) continues to maintain a strong international presence, with 20 international offers secured by students so far,” the institute said in a statement.
“Prima facie the offers being made are higher than last year. We will release the final comparative data only after the placement season ends completely,” said a senior official at IIT Delhi.
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