IITs Feel the Pinch of Uncertainty in Job Market: 8,000 Graduates Unemployed; Salaries Decline, but in a dramatic turn of events, the 2023-24 campus placement season at IITs has left approximately 8,000 graduates jobless, reflecting a significant increase in the unemployment rate amongst students at these elite institutes. Despite a 75% placement rate at IIT Bombay, with an average Cost to Company of ₹23.5 lakh per annum, the larger picture does not look very encouraging on the absorptive capacity of the job market as far as fresh talents are concerned.

The disquieting trend was picked up by an analysis shared by the IIT Kanpur alumnus and mentor of placements Dheeraj Singh. He shared on LinkedIn that Singh sourced data from 23 Right to Information responses, annual reports, media coverage, and insights from students to explain in detail that against the registration of 21,500 students for placements across IITs for 2024, only 13,410 got their jobs. So far, an astonishing 8,090 students are yet seeking employment, a factor almost near doubling the number of unplaced students compared to last year.

It pointed out the fact that while there was an increase of 11% over the previous year in terms of registered students, the percentage of success turned out to be considerably below the expected mark. The 2023-24 placement figures were impressive at IIT Bombay, with the second-best placement figure in the history of the institute; however, the ghost of close to a quarter of its students remaining unplaced has shadowed the same.

The IIT Bombay report mentioned that as many as 1,475 out of 2,414 registered students received job offers-a number little below the records created in 2022-23. However, the minimum salary package dropped to ₹4 lakh per annum, reflecting economic challenges and market uncertainties dampening prospects for many graduates.

A 12% rise in recruiting companies to 364 and a 7.7% jump in average salary packages pointed to partial recovery in the job market. The median CTC stood at ₹17.92 lakh per annum, indicating that a large number of students received less-than-optimal job offers.

Similarly, while there was a fair increase in the number of placements for the mechanical engineering students-217 against 171 last year-the computer science placements have come down from 273 to 242. Irrespective of these mixed results, most of the remaining unplaced students have pursued alternative opportunities such as higher studies, entrepreneurship, or self-employment.

It tells something about the trials of even a blue-blooded institution trying to keep its nose above water in a combustive job market. If the crème de la crème students attending IIT Bombay received offers of over ₹1 crore, quite a few students received low salaries and uncertain futures that beg questions of what this all means for higher education and job opportunities within India.