Flipkart stands by deferment decision, to send revised letters to IIM-A students

Negotiations between IIM-A and the e-commerce firm have stalled with Flipkart sticking to its guns

Standing by its December dateline for joining, Flipkart will now send revised letters to 18 students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

“They have communicated their decision to us and will be sending revised letters to our 18 students within a week,” Asha Kaul, chairperson (placements) at IIM-A told Business Standard.

Kaul also confirmed that there would be no further talks with Flipkart on the issue.

“It is a stalemate situation and there is no progression. They have a stand point and we have a stand point. It doesn't make sense to continue with any further talks,” she said. Deliberations between IIM Ahmedabad and Flipkart also did not yield any results with respect to the joining bonus of Rs 1.5 lakhs that the latter has offered to candidates joining in December 2016.

 

Earlier, Flipkart had deferred the joining date of about 10 students each at IIM-A and IIM-Bangalore from June to December, and had offered them a Rs 1.5 lakh joining bonus. The e-commerce major, which is looking to cut costs, has claimed the deferment is because of an ongoing restructuring process that involves creating new business units and merging others. 

“They are offering a joining bonus at Rs 1.50 lakh. There could be some students who would want to wait while some would still want to join,” Kaul said. 
 

In the wake of the likes of Paytm and ShopClues offering to screen profiles and make offers to students who were recruited by Flipkart and would now have to wait till December to join, the institute is now assisting students to make informed decisions. However, according to Kaul, a final call on offers from other companies will be taken by the students themselves.

“Lot of companies have been approaching the institute and the student placement committee is interacting with them. It all depends on the kind of roles that they are offering and whether they meet the students’ expectations. The choice is for the students to make,” she said.
 

Meanwhile, Kaul said that having taken charge as the new chairperson for placements at IIM Ahmedabad, she would review the placement process for upcoming season with the committee.

“It's a student driven process. We will review the entire process after the students come back from summer internship which is done every year,” she said.