Flipkart scare: IITs, IIMs plan to tighten recruitment norms

Stung by Flipkart's deferment of joining dates of graduates from various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), country's premier B-schools and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are considering altering the norms for campus recruitment by companies, particularly start-ups.

"With over 100 companies, campus recruitment works on trust. We cannot have a maybe situation at the last minute. Most of the students had other offers as well," said Sapna Agarwal, head of career development services, IIM Bangalore.

The IITs are also planning to relax the 'one student one offer' norm and allow students to sit for multiple interviews. "There was arm twisting by other start-ups at some of the campuses last year for day zero and day one slots. They want a commitment from us to give them the best students to interview, but they don't want to keep their part of bargain," said a former placement chairperson of one of the IITs.
 

One of the suggestions is to shift placement dates for start-ups to March when firms are in a better position to decide on their hiring plans.

The government has also said that companies should keep students' interest in mind. "We know what is happening in Flipkart. What do you think is going to happen in IITs and IIMs? You think anybody is going to work for a start-up," Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said at a fireside chat event with iSPIRT, the group that is working on India-built software products and solutions.

While deferred placements are not new at the IITs and IIMs, the Flipkart issue is unprecedented in many ways. In the past, IITs and IIMs have seen firms inducting students stretching over a few months, but the companies would clearly indicate this to the students and the institutes.

"There have been non-marquee technology and manufacturing companies, which usually come later in the placement calendar, with deferred joining dates for a few students due to technical reasons. These are isolated cases," said K Mohanty, chairperson for the centre of career development at IIT Guwahati.

"Also, these companies would inform in advance just in case a student wanted to opt for another recruiter. However, what Flipkart has done is unprecedented as it has been across IITs and IIMs and at a very short notice."

Flipkart, which has hired in the past from IIMs and IITs, this year informed students it was deferring their joining to December on May 20, just three days before the candidates were to join its offices. Flipkart has cited an organisational rejig for the deferment and has committed Rs 1.5 lakh as a joining bonus for each candidate. After a public spat with IIM Ahmedabad, it increased the bonus to Rs 3 lakh.

"This has never happened at IIM-A," Asha Kaul, chairperson of placements at IIM-Ahmedabad, told Business Standard. The institutes did not name the companies that had deferred joining dates in the past.

In some cases, multinational companies have extended joining dates for students due to visa issues. "These companies would then onboard the students at domestic locations when visas could not be issued for overseas postings. But this would be the case for a student or two and had not affected a large number of students or even several campuses," said V Babu, adviser for training and placements at IIT Madras. He refused to name these recruiters.

Flipkart to send fresh letters to IIM-A hires

Flipkart has promised to send revised letters to 18 students of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). IIM-A had earlier sent a strongly worded letter to Flipkart, protesting the announced delays to recruit freshers. Asha Kaul, chairperson (placements), IIM-A, told Business Standard the firm had informed the institute that it would send the revised letters "within a week".