IT majors lift the cloud,with a hiring spree

After a recruitment freeze for nearly 2 years,Hyderabads IT industry is opening doors and loosening purse strings once again.

After a recruitment freeze for nearly two years,Hyderabads IT industry is opening doors and loosening purse strings once again. As the process of campus placements started at the Osmania University (OU),where exams have been postponed and situation remains volatile,offers from top companies brought some cheer for students amidst the gloom and apprehensions of missing out on job prospects due to the agitations and shutdowns. However,students are keeping their fingers crossed hoping that the final exams are not postponed and the results are not delayed indefinitely if agitations for a separate Telangana start all over again.

If exams are delayed or postponed and results are not out in time the companies may withdraw offer letters or keep them suspended. Companies showed solidarity and faith in the students by visiting even during the agitations,but they may not tolerate postponed or delayed exams and uncertainty of results, says Shiva Kumar of the College of Engineering.

The top four IT majors Infosys,Wipro,TCS and Cognizant Technology Solutions have made 408 job offers in the OU College of Engineering. Placement Officer Shiva Kumar says that 15 IT companies made a total of 444 offers. The four top IT majors made 408 offers,which is amazing. This year,we are expecting 98 per cent of our 680 students of BE,B Tech and M Tech will get jobs through campus placements, Kumar says.

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At the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU),it is a bonanza. IT firms,including TCS and Infosys,have made 300 job offers and 22 students have received multiple job offers with salaries of Rs 3 lakh per annum. Yahoo and Google have made two job offers with remuneration packages ranging between Rs 8.5 lakh to Rs 9.5 lakh. For the first time,Oracle Corporation has picked up 18 interns,Essar Steel and Maqsoft have picked up 10 each,while ADB and Idea Cellular have picked up several management students.

Dr Koorapati Eshwara Prasad,JNTUs chief placement officer,says,Looking at the placements you cannot say that effects of recession are still there. By the end of this month,we expect to wrap up the placements and 580 students of B Tech,M Tech,MS IT and MBA students will be placed. Koorapati was surprised to see the number of offers made as JNTU opened placements with a feeling that students may be in for a disappointment due to recruitment freeze in companies due to the effects of recession.

Officials say despite the disturbances and volatile situation in OU,so many companies coming up with job offers augured well for the students who were apprehending that campus placements may not happen and they may not get jobs this year at all. The students who were agitating and causing disturbances were only a few hundred,but due to the agitation the careers of hundreds of students were at stake. So amidst the gloom and agitations,the successful placements have cheered up everyone, says Prof Hanumantha Rao,one of the placement officers of OU.

The OU management faculty received 25 offers from IDBI,State Bank of Hyderabad,TCS and Trinity Software Solutions. The IT and ITES Association of Andhra Pradesh says besides Wipro,Infosys and TCS,which plan to expand and thus would take around 20,000 freshers,more than 45 IT firms may start recruiting after March 31.