Fear is the word at IIMs too

KOLKATA: The global financial crisis seems to be sparing no one—not even the golden kids at the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

Fewer offers, lower salaries and lesser foreign jobs are just some of the problems these students are likely to face as they gear up for what IIM circles fear could be one of the worst years in terms of placements after the dot-com bust.

“We could be looking at a 15-20 % fall in the number of offers,” IIM Lucknow placement incharge Sushil Kumar said.

“The situation will not be that bad in the summers but overall, pay packages are likely to be affected, though everyone will get a job. We will definitely not be seeing the 18-20 % growth in highest salaries which we see every year,” Mr Kumar added.

The financial sector, of course, is set to be the worst hit. “Lehman Brothers has withdrawn pre-placement offers (PPOs) at most locations, except New York. Merrill Lynch is yet to confirm. PPOs offered by other investment banks still hold but we are apprehensive in case some are withdrawn later,” said IIM-C external relations secretary Debtosh Mishra.

According to Mr Mishra, pre placement offers are still coming in, but they have slowed down somewhat. However, he added that summer placements are likely to be impacted marginally as most companies have already come in for the pre-placement talks (PPTs).

While IIM circles are confident that they, of all b-schools , are likely to be least affected by the slowdown, they nonetheless anticipate a drop in the number of offers per student. They feel a lot of companies will be coming to campus to maintain the relationship they have with the institutes but will be hiring in smaller numbers.

“We are weighing more options this time around. Usually, we call about 70-80 of the 500-odd companies who want to come during the final placements. But this time, we plan to call around 100-110 ,” said IIM Kozhikode’s Sashank Malakapalli of corporate relations cell.

“As expected, students are a bit apprehensive seeing the current market scenario. But at the same time, everyone knows that recruiting might not be severely affected. However, there is still likely to be a 14-15 % drop in the number of offers per student as compared to the 2.7 offers per student we had last year. Foreign jobs too, might take a 20-30 % hit,” he said.

Falling prey

Premier b-schools may see 15-20 % fall in the number of offer in the coming placements.

Lehman Brothers has already withdrawn pre-placement offers (PPOs) at most locations.

This year, IIMs don’t expect 18-20 % growth in highest salaries seen every year.

Job offers in the financial sector, of course, will be the worst hit.

Summer placements, however, are likely to be impacted marginally as most companies have already come in for the pre-placement talks.

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