As private companies shy away from B-school campuses this year, public sector units (PSUs) are filling in this gap. B-schools say they have seen between 20 and 50 per cent jump in the registration of PSUs which have come to the campuses to recruit students.
For instance, at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad, there has been a 20 per cent jump in the number of PSUs coming for recruitment while five new companies have visited the campus this year.
The scene is similar at the Gujarat-based Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). “This year, more number of public sector organisations have visited the campus. Companies like Bank of Baroda and SIDBI have come for the first time whereas regulars like ITC, ICICI and HDFC have been absent. The institute has, however, registered 100 per cent placements,” said Saswata Biswas, placement co-ordinator at IRMA.
Incidentally, the slowdown scenario has not only resulted in a shift in the kinds of organisations visiting during final placements this year, but has also affected the salary packages. The highest salary package at IRMA, for instance, has gone down from Rs 11 lakh to Rs 7 lakh per annum. The average salary package has come down from Rs 6.13 lakh to Rs 4.63 lakh per annum.
In all, 60 organisations offered 222 jobs to 94 students. Job offers of around 27 different organisations were accepted by the students, said Biswas. Last year around 27 organisations offered 246 jobs to 100 students.
B-schools aren’t complaining about PSUs, as the salary packages are fairly good. “The salary packages offered by PSUs have fairly improved, thanks to the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations,” explained Dr K T Chacko, Director, IIFT.
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Most B-schools used to finish placements by January or February but this year it could be open till April or May in many cases. Students, on their part, are sacrificing their dream of high CTCs (cost to company) to land a stable job and B-schools expect drops in the salary levels.
“Students have taken education loans which they need to repay. In such a market, they are willing to join a public sector unit which can provide them a stable source of income,” said Munish Bhargava, Placement Chairperson at IIFT. The institute, so far, has achieved 60 per cent placement and Bhargava feels that with more companies committing, placements will improve in March.
Most other B-schools have been able to manage around 60 to 80 per cent placement so far. At Delhi’s Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), recruitment per company has gone down from about ten to four students and students are compromising on the brand, salary or the profile they are being offered.
“We are done with almost 80 per cent of the placements and the rest are on the rolling process. However, it is for the first time that there is a fall in the expectations of students,” said a student from FMS.
Usually, B-schools have had a placement week on the campus where all the students landed job offers in a week. But this year, owing to a bad job market, all the B-schools have decided to make placements a rolling process, which will continue through a couple of months. This has resulted in companies — which froze hiring and declined to participate in the placement process earlier— reverting to B-schools seeking a placement slot.
B-schools say that companies — including FMGC, Information Technology, infrastructure, manufacturing and banking — have conveyed to them that they will come to the campus in March and pick up students, though in fewer numbers.
These companies include IBM, Wipro Technologies, Oracle, DLF Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL). “It’s a welcome communication. Over seven companies, which had earlier declined to come for placements, have confirmed their participation and said they will pick up students,” said Subir Verma, Placement chairperson at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon.
MDI has been able to achieve over 60 per cent placement for its batch size of 270 students. Lateral placement at the institute has been 60 per cent so far. At the Indian Institute of Management Indore, infrastructure and real estate companies, which had withdrawn from placements, have said they will pick up students. The institute refused to divulge any other details regarding placements.
Additional reporters: Vinay Umarji & Pradipta Mukherjee