Meltdown chills IIT Kanpur

Gahgapatnam Suman lost all hope on January 3. The MTech student of electrical engineering in IIT Kanpur was despondent...

Gahgapatnam Suman lost all hope on January 3. The MTech student of electrical engineering in IIT Kanpur was despondent after he failed to get a job offer in the premier institutes campus recruitment programme and hanged himself in his hostel room. While Suman took an extreme step,his fears are not unique,with many IIT students facing an uncertain future in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

Even as the campus placement ratio has gone down,the number of IITians registering themselves for job placement this session has witnessed an incline. In 2006-07,650 IIT-K students had enrolled themselves for campus placement. The number went up to 700 in 2007-08,further increasing to 998 in 2008-09. Out of these 998 IITians,only 400 or so got a job through campus placement. In contrast,96 per cent of the students seeking a job through campus placement were successful in 2006-07 wand 98 per cent managed to secure employment in the 130 companies that came for campus placement in 2007-08.

The picture is not so rosy anymore. Owing to the global recession and the poor response from the finance and IT sectors,only 46 per cent of applicants found jobs during the first month of campus placement. During the last session 2007-08,76 per cent students were selected by various companies December,with 65 IITians finding employment in the first day of the placement drive. In December 2008,however,only 47 per cent of BTech students got job placements,with the same percentage of MTech students getting selected by various companies.

There has been a change in salary packages as well. Though in financial years 2005-06,2006-07 and 2007-08,there had been a constant increase in the salary package provided to IITians,this trend seems to have come to an end this year. The average salary package of BTech. students in 2005-06 was Rs 4.41 lakh,which went up to Rs 6.30 lakh in 2006-07,and witnessed a further increase at Rs 6.67 lakh in 2007-08. Similarly,the average salary package of dual degree students which was Rs 6.20 lakh in 2005-06 went up to Rs 7.26 in 2006-07and Rs 9.49 lakh in 2007-08. The average salary of an MTech student in 2005-06 was Rs 4.08 lakh,going up to Rs 5.31 lakh in 2006-07 and Rs 5.97 lakh in 2007-08. For an MSc student,the average package in 2005-06 was Rs 4.34 lakh,Rs 5.96 lakh in 2006-07 and Rs 6.59 lakh in 2007-08.

The chairman of the Campus Placement Office in IIT-K,Bharat Lohani,told The Indian Express,Judging by the present packages being offered to our students,we are optimistic that there would not be much of a difference between the salary structures. He pointed out that though the salary structure is similar to that offered in 2007-08,possibilities were that companies might cut down on the joining bonus and other incentives. Lohani did not fail to mention that one student was offered am annual salary of Rs 22 lakh.

Lohani did admit,however,that the number of employees being recruited by each company had gone down this session. If a company recruited as many as 10 to 15 IITians last session,this time the number has gone down to two or three, added the IIT faculty member.

A major disappointment for IITians this time has been the poor response from companies from sectors such as banking ,investment,finance and IT. Multi-national companies have also been more reticent this time. Lehman Brothers hired 13 IITians last session but,like other major companies,failed to turn up this year.

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Salary packages have received a beating too. Sources revealed that though electrical engineering student Varun Khetan got an annual package of Rs 22 lakh from an oil-sector company,most of the other students received a package in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

A BTech final-year student claimed,Rather than getting recruited on a high package in a company where there is no job security,we prefer companies that offer more stability,even if the salary is modest. He added that although some IITians had joined international banks with impressive pay packages,many lost their jobs due to the recession.

Meanwhile,it now appears as if the campus placement drive in IITs across the country will extend into the summer. Director IIT-K,Sanjay Govind Dhande confirmed,The institute has decided to have special campus placement programmes during Holi and summer vacation. He added,Earlier,students were permitted to appear in three to four interviews,but this time there is no such restriction. He also said that the future does not appear to be quite as bleak as Gangapatnam Suman must have thought it to be. The scenario will change by March,as many of the companies are waiting for the market scenario to improve before recruiting more employees, said Dhande.