Even prestigious educational institutes such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) cannot guarantee 100 percent on-campus placement amid a rising number of graduates and a sluggish job market.
Moneycontrol collated the data from multiple right-to-information (RTI) replies to Dheeraj Singh, the founder of Global IIT Alumni Support Group, and found that on average at least 20 percent of students in 14 IITs, whose data is available, did not secure jobs in the last two years.
“Around 20 percent of the IIT students could not find a job via campus in the last two years each. And the percentage of students not placed has doubled to around 40 percent this year. Thus, for every 10 students who apply for placement, IITs are able to provide campus job placements to only 6 students this year while the remaining 4 students graduate from IITs without campus jobs,” Singh told Moneycontrol.
In the 2021-22 placement season, IIT Kharagpur, the first to be established, recorded the highest number of unplaced students at 39 percent, among 13 IITs. This was followed by 33 percent of unplaced students in the 2022-23 season. Similarly, IIT Roorkee was not able to place 13 percent (2021-22) and 20 percent (2022-23) of its students.
Both IITs saw 2,000-3,000 students registering for the placement process.
At IIT Delhi, 25 percent of 1,471 registered students did not get placements in 2021-22 and 16 percent of 1,513 students in 2022-23.
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The salary matrix
While multi-crore salary or the highest package offers have consistently made headlines, the median salary offered was in the range of Rs 10 lakh per annum (LPA) to Rs 20 LPA during the 2021-23 placement seasons.
On the other hand, the average salary consistently increased across IITs barring a few exceptions. The average salary is calculated by adding all the salaries and then dividing by the number of salaries, while the median salary is the middle salary in the list when all the salaries are arranged in order from lowest to highest.
“While IITs are renowned for their guaranteed placement records, several factors influence this outcome. These include the availability of opportunities, both domestically and internationally, the dynamics of different sectors, economic fluctuations, and the balance between demand and supply of skilled workers. Currently, the job market is experiencing a slowdown, particularly in the IT and consulting sectors where lateral hiring is preferred over fresher recruitment,” Neeti Sharma, CEO of IT staffing firm TeamLease Digital, told Moneycontrol.
This trend, coupled with the increasing number of students joining IITs, has led to a saturation point where the sheer volume of students seeking has increased.
As a result, the traditional notion of a "100 percent placement" based solely on the prestige of an IIT degree may not accurately reflect the current market dynamics, Sharma said.
New IITs too struggled
IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, and IIT BHU – all established/recognised between 2008 and 2012 – also did not fare well on placements. Among the four, IIT Hyderabad had the poorest performance with 22 percent of students not getting placements in 2021-22 and 33 percent in 2022-23.
ALSO READ | IIT-Roorkee yet to secure placement for 46% of students, IIT-Bhilai 64%
Further, IIT BHU (2022-23) and IIT Gandhinagar (2021-22) recorded the lowest median salary of Rs 12 LPA. The highest median salary of Rs 21.20 LPA was recorded by IIT Indore in 2022-23.
For those IITs established or recognised post-2012, the situation is even worse. About 40 percent of IIT Dharwad (2016) did not get job offers in 2022-23 when only 132 students registered for placements.
Similarly, IIT Tirupati (2015), was not able to get placement for 37 percent of its students in the 2022-23 placement season when only 284 of the total students registered for the process.
ALSO READ | 40% of students yet to secure placement in IIT BHU
IIT (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad (2016), which had more than 1,400 students registering for placements in each session, saw 23-28 percent of them left unplaced.
The lowest median salary of Rs 11 LPA was recorded at IIT Palakkad in 2021-22. However, the same institute also has the lowest percentage of unplaced students – 9 percent in 2021-22 and 8 percent in 2022-23.
“IIT press releases on phase 1, day zero, crore plus packages are creating a vicious spiral for the public at large. The parents are made to believe that IIT degrees are a jackpot to crore plus salaries and almost everyone gets it. This creates a very unhealthy expectation in the mind of parents who expect their ward to get a very high salary. The reality is that the students, on the other hand, are struggling to find a job,” Singh said.
Moneycontrol has written to all IITs mentioned in the article and this report will be updated after they respond.
ALSO READ | Placement woes continue with 60% IIT Gandhinagar students still awaiting offers
Adding to Singh’s point, TeamLease’s Sharma said while these eye-catching packages grab headlines, they represent a small fraction of the overall employment landscape. She highlighted that it's crucial to understand that such extravagant packages are often reserved for top-level executives or individuals with exceptional skills and experience.
“The reality for most graduates, however, lies in the median salary range, which may not align with the sensationalised figures promoted by IITs. This disconnect highlights the importance of realistic expectations and a deeper understanding of the job market dynamics. Factors such as industry trends, demand-supply dynamics, and individual skill sets play significant roles in determining actual salary levels,” she said.
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