Summer internship at top B-schools deferred or made virtual due to Covid-19

In some cases, existing internship offers have even been cancelled or squeezed to 5 weeks from the normal 7-8 weeks

The summer internship season that would have ideally begun in April has now either been deferred to late April or has gone remote/virtual amid the Covid-19 (coronavirus) scare at some of the top B-schools.

For instance, nine have seen internship cancellation by three companies at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. On the other hand, students at other B-schools like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, FMS Delhi and XLRI Xavier Institute of Management have been issued deferred joining dates or have been asked to work remotely.

"On account of the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of pandemic Covid-19, while few companies have decided to opt for virtual internships, many companies, in order to assess the situation better, have sought deferment in the joining date. Further, so far three companies have cancelled their internships affecting nine students. However, we are in touch with our alumni as well as our legacy recruiters for alternative opportunities for these students," the placement chair at IIM Lucknow stated.

At FMS Delhi, of the 211 students placed for summer internships, while some have been asked to join late in mid April or early May others have been given the remote working option.

"Summer internship dates have been deferred to mid April or early May at least by most recruiters (around 50) and the others have gone with a WFH option. Around 200 students (summer interns) have a postponed joining date. Some companies are giving an option for WFH throughout the internship period. A few recruiters also have given WFH for an initial internship period and plan to move to physical locations once the situation improves," according to the placement cell at FMS Delhi.

While domestic internships have been relatively less impacted, international internship projects stand cancelled with internship periods reduced from typically 7-8 weeks to 5 weeks now, depending on when the lockdown ends. However, final placement joining dates which usually fall in May or June are yet to see much impact except deferment in some cases.

"Summer internships do start in April. Given the current situation due to Covid-19 outbreak, many recruiters have deferred the starting date to mid-April.  Few firms who recruited during final placements have deferred the joining dates. We are working with them to find out ways (e.g. remote working, virtual internships) that may be the most optimal solutions in today's scenario. So far, none of the firms have cancelled their offers," Amit Karna, chairperson- placements at IIM Ahmedabad told Business Standard, adding that a large number of recruiters had adapted their internship model to a virtual (remote working) mode.

At IIM Kozhikode, placement chair Shovan said that the internship period could be reduced to five weeks, if not less, from eight weeks even while final placement appointments haven't been impacted as their joining dates start mostly from May onwards. "Most of the firms have deferred joining dates of interns and some of the firms have allowed interns to work from home," he said.

Given the uncertainty around the 21-days lockdown which could get extended depending on the spread of the pandemic in the country, recruiters are also looking at other ways of conducting internships that could benefit both them and the students. As a result, XLRI has seen some recruiters even propose conducting the otherwise summer internships during autumn months.

"Currently, we are looking at shifting the internship start date by a couple of weeks, thereby beginning the internship by mid-April and lasting till mid-June. Given that the term is scheduled to start on June 17, XLRI is more than happy to work on this solution. One radical solution proposed by a few recruiters is to conduct the internships in the autumn, and starting the next term early to accommodate this," Chairperson XLRI Placement stated.

Sector-wise, while the impact has been widespread, some like the FMCG and consulting have seen more companies ask for deferred joining dates. "The FMCG and the consulting sector have seen more companies asking for a deferral in joining as their job profile involves extensive on-ground research and travel. However, the students have to miss out on international projects because of the travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19," according to the Chairperson XLRI Placement.

"For Summer Internships, companies across sectors (Finance, Consulting, Marketing, General Management, Tech, etc.) have deferred joining dates," Karna of IIM Ahmedabad said.

Meanwhile, according to Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore, companies across sectors have deferred the joining for summer internships. "I think it is more to do with the location of the internships."

Unlike that for summer internships, B-schools believe that closer to the end of the current 21-days lockdown, there could be more clarity on the impact on final placement appointments which so far have not seen much impact.