Job openings: Campus placements may fall over 50% this year. Here's why

Of the 2,209 registered students in IIT Bombay in 2023, 1,485 were placed, which means 32.8% remained unplaced last session as well.

There could be a further drop in India's IT job market which has seen a steady decline in entry-level jobs over the past few years. This year could also see fewer campus hirings, Ramani Dathi, CFO of TeamLease Services told ET Now.

Of the 2,209 registered students in IIT Bombay in 2023, 1,485 were placed, which means 32.8% remained unplaced last session as well, raising concerns over the relatively low number of students recruited via campus placements.

Reflecting on campus hirings in the last year, she said that they were on a lower side but companies still continued entry-level hiring and spent on L&D and upskilling.

"That worked for last year. But this year, even at entry-level, the campus hirings will be lower than last two years’ trends. Whether that would be 50% lower, 60% lower, we are not very sure and clearly, at least going by the indications, there can be a drop in campus hiring numbers as well for this year," she said as per the outlet.

Does AI pose a challenge to job openings in IT sector?

Talking about the shift towards AI (Artificial Intelligence), she said that there are challenges which the IT sector faces which include a drop in headcounts across IT service companies over the past five quarters.

"Especially at junior levels, it looks like AI to some extent has impacted because more and more IT companies are investing in AI and they are trying to optimise employee productivity and it is already reflecting in the numbers of many of the IT service companies," she told the outlet.

"It would be too early to say whether it has already bottomed out because consistently for the last five quarters, we are seeing a headcount drop in core employee br of IT service companies and almost no hirings in terms of new positions happening," she added.