High salary expectations of graduates impacting placements at IITs, says IIT Mandi Director

Many students rejected job offers from PSUs during placements, which often resulted in a ‘bad experience’ for recruiters, said Prof Behera.

Expectations of high pay package among graduates is impacting placements across Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) sometimes resulting in recruiters facing a ‘bad experience’ after students turn down job offers when their salary criteria is not met, says IIT Mandi Director Laxmidhar Behera.

IIT Mandi Director Prof Laxmidhar Behera said that students often turn down job offers when they see their peers getting higher pay packages. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

“Many students turned down job offers from Public Sector Units (PSUs) during placements, often resulting in a ‘bad experience’ for recruiters,” said Prof Behera to The Indian Express.

Sharing an instance, Prof Behera pointed out, “Bharat Electronics Limited in Ghaziabad offered many jobs, but I was told several of our undergraduates chose not to join. Our students expect high packages, similar to those in the software sector, which is not typical for PSUs. Public sector jobs offer long-term benefits and stability. They aren’t part of the so-called rat race.”

Notably, Prof Behera's statement is significant because IITs are usually known for their positive placement record.

Role of Artificial Intelligence & uncertainties in global market: a contributing factor

Prof Behera also pointed out that there has been a drop in placements across IITs since last year due to the uncertainties in the global market as well as disruptions” from Artificial Intelligence.

This decline, Prof Behera pointed out, has been to the tune of 83% from 97% in 2023.

“All IITs have suffered. There are uncertainties in the global market, and there are multiple reasons for this. AI is a big disruptor, taking away many jobs, and even major corporations have retrenched people. But we are trying our best. In spite of the negative repercussions, we still achieved 83% placement this year, compared to 97% last year.”

Hiring in Japanese companies

The IIT Mandi Director informed that the institute is mulling to improve the hiring of students in Japanese companies, who he said, are eager to employ IIT graduates.