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For premier management institutes' students, it's back to the basics when they make a career choice as start-ups fail to offer lucrative deals like a few years ago.
As global investors become more cautious about investments, e-commerce players and start-ups in the country have to tighten their purse strings while hiring.
So, students at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, Indian Institute of Management Technology-Ghaziabad, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) and others are choosing jobs in core sectors rather than in start-ups.
For instance, at the Pune-based SIBM, the highest salary offered by a start-up was rejected by students.
"It is an interesting trend. The highest package which a student at SIBM accepted this year was Rs 21.5 lakh annually. But, the highest package offered by a start-up (Rs 27.25 lakh) was rejected," said R Raman, director, SIBM.
He added: "The three or four offers from start-ups were all rejected. The students want a stable organisation to start their careers, and are willing to take a cut of Rs 5-6 lakh."
Raman said many core sector firms were returning to campus hiring. Similar trends are visible everywhere. At IMT-Ghaziabad, start-ups are getting fewer applications from students than they did previously - unless they are big brands.
The institute has a one-offer policy - a student has to take what they are offered. Many of the applicants are choosing core sectors.
"A number of e-commerce companies and start-ups have been coming. But when students have the option of signing up for the interviews, they often choose the core sector - despite lesser salaries," said Vishal Goyal, group head, corporate relations, IMT-Ghaziabad and -Dubai.
"The students are looking for stability," he added. "So they choose a start-up only if it is a big brand." Goyal also said for the past two years, about five per cent of the passouts got placed with start-ups and e-commerce companies. "This has not increased."
At IIM-Bangalore, it is a mixed bag of sorts. Sapna Agarwal, chairperson, career development services, IIM-B, said unless a start-up had an adequate funding, had the institute's alumni on board, or had been in operation for a while, students were reluctant to opt for them.
"In the past two or three years, start-ups, especially e-commerce ones, were offering good packages, but it seems to be slowing down. Therefore, we see a good mix of students opting for core sectors as well," she added.
A similar trend was confirmed by Savita Mohanty, faculty coordinator, placements, Xavier's Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. "We try to get start-ups and encourage students to opt for them. But students have often chosen core sectors over start-ups," she said.
