Many IIT Graduates Struggle to Find Jobs After Graduation

The class of 2024 at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is facing difficulties in starting their professional careers. According to information from IIT Kanpur alumnus Dheeraj Singh, about 38% of IIT graduates from all 23 campuses are still without jobs. Singh shared on LinkedIn that over 7,000 IIT students remain unplaced this year, compared to 3,400 two years ago. This means that while the number of students seeking jobs has increased by 1.2 times, the number of those without jobs has more than doubled, now at 2.3 times the previous number.

In the past, companies would come to IITs a day before the hiring season started, creating what was known as 'day zero.'

To tackle this issue, IITs are seeking help from their alumni. IIT Delhi has reached out to its alumni for assistance in placing the current batch of graduates or recommending them to companies. IIT Bombay and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science have also contacted their alumni for help.

As the 2023-24 placement season ends at IIT Delhi, the institute faces a major challenge. Despite efforts, around 400 students have not yet secured jobs. Therefore, IIT Delhi is asking alumni to help by offering jobs, referrals, and internship opportunities. The Office of Career Services (OCS) at IIT Delhi emphasized the importance of alumni support in helping students start their professional careers.

Similarly, other engineering institutes, such as the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, reached out to their alumni for help two months ago. IIT Bombay also asked former students for assistance. Although the placement process continues until the end of June, about 10% of the batch, or 250 candidates, remain unplaced. Last year, 329 candidates were not placed, with 171 from the class of 2022 still jobless.

Why are IIT graduates struggling to find jobs? V Ramgopal Rao, vice-chancellor of the BITS Group, mentioned that job placements are 20% to 30% lower everywhere. He noted that if an institute claims all students are placed, the quality of jobs might be questionable. Rao explained that the impact of technologies like ChatGPT and large language models has reduced hiring needs, as fewer people are needed to do the same amount of work. Additionally, over-hiring in the past and election years in many countries have made companies cautious about hiring new employees.