Bureaucrat reveals 'real situation' of placements at IITs: ‘Higher packages offered to CSE…’

An IFS officer shares insights on placements at IITs

One of the main reasons why students clamour for admission into premier institutes like the IITs is good placements after graduation. But do these students actually find good jobs after graduation or is the ground reality a bit different? A bureaucrat recently took to social media to share insights into the “real situation of placement at IITs.”

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Gaurav Garg shared four points on placements at IITs. Garg is an alumnus of IIT-Roorkee. Although media often hypes up stories of students who bag lucrative packages – often in crores – such packages are exceptions rather than the norm, he said.

In reality, students who graduate from IITs get salaries that range anywhere between Rs 6 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per annum. Graduates in subjects like Electronics and Communication Engineering and Computer Science invariably get higher packages, said Garg.

1. Fresh #IITians get a salary of around Rs 6 lakh to Rs 35 lakh . With higher packages offered to CSE, ECE graduates invariably.

— Gaurav Garg, IFS (@IFS_GauravGarg) March 30, 2024

The IFS officer pointed out that these lucrative packages going into crores ESOPs, Leave Encashment, staggered payments in 4-5 years etc. In reality, the in-hand salary is only 40 to 50 percent of the CTC quoted.

As proof, he shared a news graphic on salaries offered by MNCs like Meta, Google and Microsoft during campus interviews. At Facebook, a package of Rs 1.42 crore per annum means a basic salary of Rs 65 lakh only. “The basic offered is the actual take-home for students. All other components are variables, one-time benefits or stock options,” said Mohak Mehta, Placement Manager at IIT-Bombay, according to the news piece.

3. The #salary packages includes the ESOPs, Leave Encashment, Staggered payments in 4-5 years etc. Sometimes the in-hand salary is only 40-50% of #CTC quoted. pic.twitter.com/gHZ6lLbvSf

— Gaurav Garg, IFS (@IFS_GauravGarg) March 30, 2024

IFS officer Gaurav Garg concluded his thread on placement at IITs by saying the average package is Rs 10 to 12 LPA, except for computer science. “Core branches like Mechanical and Civil Engineering get placed on the lower side,” he said.

The issue of placements at IITs came into the spotlight after a report by Global IIT Alumni Support Group suggested that almost 36 percent of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) students who registered for 2024 placements are yet to find jobs. However, IIT-Bombay, generally considered first among equals of all the IITs, contradicted this report saying only 6.1 percent of students are yet to find jobs.

In a post on X, the institute said, “Lately there has been news that over 30% of IITB students do not get jobs! An exit survey among graduating students in 2022-23 says only 6.1% are still looking for jobs.”