Placements at IIT Bombay: More job offers from big consultancies in first phase this year

3 of the ‘Big Four’ professional services networks selected 33 candidates, against 19 in 2016

Consultancy firms, including three of the ‘Big four’ accounting firms, multiplied job offers in the first phase of placements at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B).

IIT Bombay campus in Powai. (HT file)

While Ernst and Young, one of the big four, gave the premier institute a miss this year, the other three — Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG — selected 33 candidates, up from 19 offers they made in the first phase of campus placements last year.

The jump in offers could point to a reversal of a trend in campus placements at IIT-B, which has been witnessing a decline in consultancy jobs in the past few years. The shift is being attributed to the roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the consulting firms’ efforts to expand their reach in the technical domain.

With 15 offers in the first phase and two additional pre-placement offers, UK-based PwC leads the list of consultancies this year. Last year, the company had offered 10 jobs in the first phase. On the other hand, a few companies made slightly fewer job offers this year as well.

According to Rituparna Chakraborty, executive vice-president, TeamLease Services, a human-resource consulting agency, capacity of large consultancies has increased after the Centre replaced several indirect taxes with the GST.

“The ‘big four’ have been the biggest gainers the way GST has been designed. They are very much in demand these days,” she said. “Today, being a chartered accountant is not enough. Accounting firms need people who are tech-savvy, as taxation has moved online.”

Kamal Kamal Karanth, founder of Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, said consultancies are hiring engineering graduates to offer their services in new areas.

“The consulting firms are now expanding into areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). However, they need a few years to train their employees in this domain. Hence, they are hiring in the anticipation of the future,” Karnath said.

Speaking to HT, a student. hired by a consultancy, said the sector offers them better exposure.

“Presently, I don’t know in which sector I want to work. Consulting firms provide an opportunity to get an experience in various sectors,” he added.