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Bangalore-based information technology (IT) services firm Wipro is on a major recruitment drive. The company would evaluate 50,000-60,000 students from 350 colleges in FY15.
Last year, Wipro had offered letters to 3,000-4,000 students with science background, and the company plans to hire more in FY15, said Rajiv Kumar, global campus head, Wipro. Kumar did not reveal the exact number of recruitments.
“Campus hiring has always been strategic to Wipro’s hiring strategy. But other than hiring engineers, we have been hiring students from science background in good numbers through two of our programmes -- Wipro Academy of Software Engineers and Wipro Software Technology Academy,” added Kumar.
According to sources, about 5,000 students were inducted and another 11,000 are in the process of joining the company through these programmes. The programmes had been launched in partnership with BITS Pilani and Vellore Institute of Technology. During the traning, the company takes care of the fee, books and accomodation. Besides, students are given a stipend of about Rs 12,000 in the first year and goes up to 20,000 in the fourth year.
“These are true earn-as-you-learn programmes. After four years, their career paths are similar to any engineer. They can start as developer, project manager etc. More importantly, we do not sign any bond with the student. So after the fourth year, if a candidate wishes to leave Wipro, they can. The only condition is that they have to complete the four-year tenure,” said Kumar.
Kumar said candidates who have completed the programmes would draw more salary than that of an engineer. “They get paid more than an entry level engineering candidate. It is generally in the range of Rs 4,00,000–6,00,000 per annum,” he said. The average salary an entry level engineer draws is around Rs 3,00,000–Rs 3,50,000 per annum.
“Our experience tells us that the attrition rate in this group is in single digits: Much lower than the company average. Also, we do not hire these students for our BPO operations,” said Kumar.
