Hiring slowdown: After IIM Lucknow, BITS Pilani taps alumni network to seek jobs for 2024 batch

BITS Pilani

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS), an institute that has created a brand for itself in the world of entrepreneurship, is tapping its alumni network to seek jobs for the batch of 2024 amid a hiring slowdown, multiple sources confirmed.

This comes days after the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, one of the top five business schools in India, struggling to place about 72 of its students reached out to its alumni.

The request for support in placements came from Arya Kumar, dean of Alumni Relations, a person familiar with the matter said. In a letter, Kumar said that the global uncertainty in businesses has a cascading effect on hiring at all levels, including on campuses.

“The global economy has not experienced this kind of slump since decades. The technology sector is radically impacted, with around 4 lakhs employees being laid off globally since January 2022,” he said.

Also Read: Bit by bit the community at BITS is sailing the boat of entrepreneurial spirit

The issue first came to light when the edtech entrepreneur Ravi Handa took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share a screenshot of the message and said, “First IIM Lucknow, now BITS Pilani asking alumni to help out with placements. This is the first time I am seeing such grovelling after 2008,” he said.

This comes at a time when a fall in hiring sentiments in India Inc amid a poor macro-environment has impacted the placement records of many such institutions across the country.

The alumni relations dean at the institute added that BITS Pilani has stood strong with its closing placement statistics for the academic year 2022-23 standing at 89.2 percent for Indian campuses. However, he said that since then the hiring slowdown has deepened.

“Although the placement teams are doing their best, they would be very appreciative of the support from our esteemed alumni to help them tide through the current crisis,” said the letter. Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the letter.

Moneycontrol’s efforts to reach out to the institute's alumni relations department went unanswered. The story will be updated when we get a response from the institute.

Top business and tech schools, this year are hence rolling out their placements for months till the last student of the batch is placed.  This comes at a time when major recruiters have sat out the campus placement season resulting in this year, turning out to be one of the most difficult ever for placements.