IITs seek consensus to exclude highest salaries in placement reports

Concerns arise over student pressure amidst inflated expectations and IITs placement committee suggests shifting focus to mean or median salary packages in student placement reports

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are mulling over whether the highest pay packages during placement seasons should be revealed in reports, according to a report by The Indian Express (IE). Days after IIT Bombay announced that 85 of its students (later corrected down to 22) had secured placement packages of over Rs 1 crore, discussions in the academic community arose about the impact of such news on student expectations during the placement season.

IT companies have slowed down hiring, and many tech giants have famously offloaded significant portions of their workforce over the last year. All these pointed towards a tough placement season for IITs in 2024. However, the news from IIT Bombay may have sparked unrealistic hope among students still waiting to be placed or receiving lower packages.

 

IIT Bombay later revised its number to 22, citing a "technical error." Even if 85 students had received Rs 1 crore package offers, it's still a very small portion of the student population. According to the placement report, more than 2,000 students registered for placement this year. In the first phase, around 1,340 offers were made, and 1,188 students secured placements. 22 students would be less than two per cent of the students who secured placements.

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According to the IE report, this has also placed pressure on students during placement seasons. IITs are, therefore, seriously contemplating a shift in their reporting approach by refraining from disclosing the highest annual packages. Instead, the focus might shift to mean and median salary figures, as discussed during a recent meeting of the All IITs Placement Committee (AIPC).

The AIPC, comprising heads of career development or training and placement cells of all 23 IITs, collectively discussed the matter, expressing reservations about the repercussions of disclosing the highest salary figures. The discussion particularly highlighted concerns about the potential impact on students, raising false expectations, especially in a year marked by an overall subdued hiring sentiment.

While IIT-Bombay is not the only institute disclosing the highest salary packages, the AIPC meeting discussed the need for guidelines on how to declare placement reports and confirmed a consensus on not disclosing the highest salary packages during the meeting.

ALSO READ: IIT Bombay placement: 22, not 85, students secure Rs 1 cr salary package

At the upcoming AIPC meeting in February, IITs are expected to agree on common guidelines for the release of placement reports. The aim is to assess whether disclosing mean and median salaries would be a more balanced approach.