Higher Pay Packages, More Global Offers In 2024-25 Bring IITs Out Of Slowdown Phase
Last year, placements across IITs, including at older and well-established institutes, were hit by a global economic slowdown in the IT industry, the effects of which now seem to be weaning off
A rise in median salaries offered, more international offers and greater number of PSUs hiring students — emerging from the shadows of the global economic slowdown, the first phase of campus placements at the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) has been a welcome change in the 2024-25 placements season.
Last year, placements across IITs, including at older and well-established institutes, were hit by a global economic slowdown in the IT industry, the effects of which now seem to be weaning off. In the 2023-24 academic session, even though most students got placed by the end, the average pay packages as well as the number of international offers received by students had remained much lower than the previous few years.
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This year, in comparison, and even otherwise, has started on a good note, said Prof SK Srivastava, placement cell in-charge at IIT-BHU, which has already had around 66 per cent of its students placed in the first phase itself. A total of 1,010 offers were received, of which 262 are Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs).
PPOs are job offers made to students by companies during their internship period itself.
The highest pay package received by a student this year so far is Rs 1.65 crore PA.
“Over 1,000 of the around 1,500 students have already been placed in the first phase that concluded on December 12. A good number of these are international offers. We have more companies lined up for interviews that are scheduled for the first and second week of January," said Prof Srivastava.
The median salary offered last year was Rs 23 lakh PA while this year it has gone up Rs 30 lakh PA, which is a significant improvement from last year, he said.
Among the recruiters this year, he said, there is a significant number of core sector companies as well as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). “There is a major push from the government to hire best talent for its research and service sector. Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) is one of the recruiters on campus," the professor said.
Some of the major recruiters at IIT-BHU this year include 89 Databricks, Google, Amazon, Mastercard, Hi Labs, McKinsey & Company, Meesho, Plutus Research, Reliance, Confluent, Cohesity, Squarepoint, Microsoft, Harness, Alphonso, AQR Capital, Oracle, OLA, Thoughtspot, Flipkart, WellsFargo, Trilogy, Pace Stock, Airamatrix, Texas In, Commonwealth Bank, Applied Materials, SSIR, Bajaj, Petronet, Zomato, Groww, Sprinklr, 26 Miles Capital, Nvidia, MediaNet, Infoedge, Javis, Quicksell and Tata Motors, among others.
The first phase of recruitment drive at the older IITs starts from December 1 and goes on for over a fortnight or so.
A placement cell executive at IIT-Bombay said phase-1 will end on December 16. “This year has been good in terms of the offers made with the average pay packages going up from last year. Data is being collated, and final figures will be available only next week," said the executive, who didn’t wish to be named.
While IIT-Madras also concluded phase-1, it is yet to come out with placement statistics.
At IIT-Delhi, placement cell executives said phase-1 was much better than last year when fewer offers were made. “Recruiters are looking for people with a varied skill set that included good soft skills as well," said a placement cell member at the institute, who didn’t wish to be named.
Analytics, Software Designers Most Sought-After Profiles
Continuing with the trend from last year, the role of data analytics has been in great demand this year as well.
“As for data analytics, it’s not a discipline-specific profile. It applies to all branches and a skill that most recruiters have been looking for in students. Even mining engineering students doing data are doing well, it’s not just students of computer science who have bagged good packages. Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and automation are still opening new possibilities for users and designers, while AI, machine learning, and cobots are already starting to revolutionise development. AI, automation, quantum computing, generative AI and IoT will become important tools to amplify creativity and innovation," said Prof Srivastava.
The government is also focusing on 4.0 manufacturing (technologies that include industrial to IoT networks, AI, big data, robotics, and automation). Service sector is becoming more advanced with these technological tools, hence the increased demand, he said.
Also, the business sector across the globe is expanding fast. Over the years, the R&D sector is going to be integrated with start-ups.
“The supply chain system of organised and unorganised sector is going to be captured by e-commerce and requires talent to analyse the data and improve their reach to remote areas. Apart from these, the policies of the Union government are playing a big role in the growth and development of technology-driven sectors," he added.
The profiles being picked by recruiters are similar across IITs. Placement cell executives at several of these institutes said that analytics, quant, high-frequency trading, software designer, consultancy, hardware, testing, R&D, business analysts, design and verification engineers have been the most sought-after profiles that firms have made most offers to this year.
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