LUCKNOW: When giants like IIMs are apprehensive about their placements due to global economic recession, comparatively smaller institutes fear worse in coming days.
Be it the management courses in the Lucknow University (LU) or technical colleges like Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), everywhere faces are grim. While students are worried about their future, teachers are busy assessing what impact the recession would bring in the Indian economy. The basic question is how such a large number of students graduating every year from the educational institutes will get jobs.
According to initial assessment the economic slump would dent the banking, finance, information technology and tourism sectors the most, whereas the impact would be limited in the mechanical, electronics, civil and instrumentation branches of engineering. Already, only 15 per cent of the graduates from technical and management institutes of UP, barring IIMs and IITs, are found to be employable in various studies because of poor quality education. The recession now will aggravate the situation further.
Rajiv Agarwal, a final engineering student, opted for information technology (IT) when he took admission to the BTech course four years ago. “At that time IT was going great and only toppers used to get the branch. But now we have come to know that jobs will be drastically cut in the IT sector due to this recession,” he said. Rajiv’s concern is not only how to get a job after graduation but also a decent package so that he can repay the loan taken for education.
There are over one lakh students enrolled in various courses in over 400 technical and management institutes affiliated to UP Technical University. Around 15,000 students graduate every year. The problem of placement would be more in the private institutes which have mushroomed all over the state. The pinch would be lesser in reputed government institutes like IET and HBTI.
Prof VK Singh, IET, said that meritorious students will get jobs in all the branches but the main problem will be for the middle rung and poor performers. “But then we have faced similar problems in 2000-2002 when companies refused to recruit students after campus placements citing economic recession at that time,” he said. This time, he added, it is predicted that recession would continue for next 4-5 years. “But I am sure things will revive and hope that the impact of the slump would be a mild one in India,” he said.
“The global recession, if continues, will definitely cut jobs, particularly in banking and insurance sector, where our students were getting maximum placements in recent years,” said JK Sharma, director, Institute of Management Sciences, Lucknow University, which runs 12 management courses in various disciplines such as business administration, e-business, tourism management, retail management, international business, finance management, human resource etc.
Nearly 720 students graduate from these 12 courses every year. The pay packages offered are between Rs 3-6 lakh per annum. Often placements are not 100 per cent. Situation had improved in last couple of years. But now global recession has left students worried.
Sharma, however, also sees an opportunity. “Companies going for cost cuts may offer more jobs to middle rung institutes instead of recruiting from IIMs on hefty packages,” he said. “But we will have to adopt an aggressive approach this year and target more companies,” he said. Earlier, few companies used to recruit in bulk but now the trend may change.
Manoj Dixit, director, tourism management programme, also feels that job opportunities in retail, insurance, banking and tourism sectors will come down due to the recession. “Situation will become clear after a month or two. So far we even don’t know how long this recession would last. The depression was predicted to start from 2010. Nobody had imagined that it will take the world into its grip two years in advance,” he said. However, he said, India will survive the depression because of its strong consumer base.
Ritesh Srivastava, a student, said that most of the students have taken loans for studies. “No jobs would ruin families,” he said. Rimjhim, another student, however, felt that there was no need to be cynical because it would be premature to predict anything. “Let’s wait and watch,” she said. Students said that university authorities should come up with a strategy and start working now.
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