After IIM Lucknow, BITS Pilani approaches alumni network for placement amid global slowdown

“We are writing to address the current situation regarding unplaced students from our batch. Currently, 72 talented individuals are seeking employment opportunities. We are reaching out to our alumni of the 2011 Batch for assistance. We understand that everyone has unique connections and networks, and we are hopeful that you may be able to help in placing our students,” the message read.

Indianexpress.com reached out to the placement office at IIM Lucknow who did not want to comment on the story.

Now, a similar notice has been put out by BITS Pilani’s Arya Kumar, who is the current dean of alumni relations. BITS Pilani has confirmed to indianexpress.com that the notice was sent out to their alumni network. In an earlier interaction, former IIT Delhi director and VC of BITS Pilani, V Ramgopal Rao had told indianexpress.com that a lot of engineering colleges, including BITS Pilani, are now reaching out to the alumni community for the second session of the placement season.

“You are well-aware of the current industry downturn and its effect on the businesses and prospective hiring. The global economy has not experienced this kind of slump since decades. The technology sector is radically impacted, with around 4 lakh employees being laid off globally since January 2022. This uncertainty has a cascading effect with a funding winter setting in, resulting in cost-cutting in small and large businesses alike, with hiring being affected at all levels, including the campus level. In spite of business adversities, BITS Pilani has stood strong, with our closing placement statistics for the academic year 2022-23 standing at a healthy 89.2% for Indian Campuses. Since then, however, the hiring slowdown has only deepened. Although the placement teams are doing their best, they would be very appreciative of support from our esteemed alumni to help them tide through the current crisis.

“It is a gentle request to please keep this in mind in case you find any suitable opportunities that can be of use to your junior batches and reach out to Mr. Balasubramanian Gurumurthy, Chief Placement Officer (Indian and Dubai), by dropping a line to cpo@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in,” the official notice read.

Talking about the same, V Ramgopal Rao told indianexpress.com that this is a rare year for BITS Pilani in which the institute has not been able to achieve 100 per cent placement, and keeping that in mind, the institute reached out to nearly 3000 alumni who are currently CEOs in their companies. “This notice (which has gone viral on social media) was not sent to everyone in the alumni network. There are nearly 3000 BITSians who are CEOs right now around the globe, and the notice was sent out specially to them,” he informed.

“This is not a regular practice and was done only once before during the Covid pandemic. But this time, we saw the need for it, so we reached out to our alumni network and we have received a great response from them,” Rao added.

He also added that BITS Pilani also hosted a ‘starts-up connect’ where several start-ups from around the world visited the campus and interacted with students for placement process. “Till last year, many start-ups wanted to hire BITSians but students were not very interested. However, this time, due to the global economic slowdown, we think that some students might be interested in start-ups now. So, we are helping those students connect with start-ups.”

However, IITs are not taking this route for now as they are confident that they will be able to get every eligible candidate placed by April end. “For now, we have not reached out to our alumni network and don’t plan to do so in the near future, but it depends on the situation we face in the future. If alumni want to help us and they reach out to us, we would be happy to take their help, but no request has been sent for now,” said a professor from IIT Guwahati.

The professor also explained that IITs might be bit hesitant to reach out to their alumni network since a lot of them are employed abroad, and the economic slowdown is worse overseas.

However, a source from IIT Mandi has confirmed that the institute will be reaching out to their alumni network for help in placement. “We have completed 60% of our placement process and will now reach out to our alumni network. We have not yet finalised everything yet but will be done soon. Our placements will go on till the end of May,” a source stated.