The news rippled through India’s academic circles like a shockwave: a staggering 38% of the graduating class from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – once the golden ticket to a high-paying job – remained unplaced. This wasn’t just a blip on the radar; it was a stark reminder that even the most prestigious institutions aren’t immune to the harsh realities of the job market.
For decades, IITs and their counterparts, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), were the holy grail of Indian education. Their graduates – engineers and managers – were coveted by corporations worldwide. But whispers of doubt were starting to creep in. Were these graduates still the prized assets they once seemed? Were employers questioning the return on investment (ROI) of recruiting from these elite institutions?
The talent pool at IITs remains undeniable, acknowledges Ramesh Shankar, a seasoned HR leader. But a sobering note follows: “The education sector, just like any other, is subject to the winds of change.” The rapid expansion of IITs, points out Nihar Ghosh, another HR leader, might be a double-edged sword. “Sure, access to education has increased,” he says, “but the quality might not be the same across all campuses.” Attracting top faculty, especially for newer IITs, remains a challenge, impacting the overall educational experience. Even established IITs struggle to retain their best professors.
“The education sector, just like any other, is subject to the winds of change. The rapid expansion of IITs, might be a double-edged sword.”
Nihar Ghosh, senior HR leader
The consequence? Graduates from these newer IITs, despite bearing the prestigious IIT brand, might not possess the same skillsets or hold the same appeal to potential employers. This gap could lead companies to prioritise placements from the more established institutions.
The current economic climate plays another crucial role. Companies are becoming increasingly cost-conscious, and graduates from tier-2 or tier-3 colleges, often with comparable skillsets, are seen as a more economical option. “It’s a broader market dynamic,” confirms Shankar. During boom times, institutions often inflated labour costs. For instance, IT companies might have offered a starting salary of Rs 3-4 lakhs to an average engineering graduate. Today, however, even top-tier IT firms reportedly offer Rs 10-12 lakhs to graduates from lower-tier institutions. When the market shifts, however, companies tighten their belts, and recruitment strategies focus on cost-effectiveness.
“IIT graduates might not be the best fit for core manufacturing or shop-floor jobs. If ‘Make in India’ becomes the national focus, the demand for IIT grads in those sectors might decline.”
Adil Malia, CEO, The Firm
“Prestigious institutions like IITs are often targeted for new roles, not replacements,” observes Adil Malia, CEO of The Firm. He dives deeper: “IIT graduates might not be the best fit for core manufacturing or shop-floor jobs. If ‘Make in India’ becomes the national focus, the demand for IIT grads in those sectors might decline.” Companies, he adds, are realising that “unless they truly need a high-calibre IIT profile, it makes little sense to pay a premium for an employee who might soon leave in frustration due to a mismatch in expectations.”
The COVID-19 pandemic throws another wrench into the equation. The disruptions caused by lockdowns might have inadvertently affected the preparedness and skill levels of graduates. However, both Shankar and Ghosh believe the pandemic is not the sole culprit. These dynamics, they argue, reflect broader economic trends impacting both individuals and academic institutions.
The talent pool at IITs remains undeniable, but the education sector, just like any other, is subject to the winds of change.”
Ramesh Shankar, senior HR leader
The unplaced IITians are a symptom of a perfect storm – a confluence of market forces, educational realities, and the lingering effects of the pandemic. While the “COVID batch” bore the brunt of virtual learning, the challenges remain relevant for future graduates as well. A lack of quality education isn’t the sole factor; these issues plague institutions across the board.
The onus lies on both academia and industry to adapt. Educational institutions need to ensure their curriculum and pedagogy remain relevant to industry needs. Companies must re-evaluate their recruitment strategies to identify the right talent, regardless of the institute’s brand name. Only through such collaboration can India’s educational institutions continue to produce graduates who are not just highly qualified but also readily employable in the ever-evolving job market.
15 Comments
This is the result of creating “IITs” a rupee a dozen. Just dubbing an existing college an IIT doesn’t make it an IIT. Smriti Irani madam(an expert on education, especially on engineering and technology) vowed to set up an IIT in every State. And this government has also tasked IITs to meld technology with vedic concepts.
Establishing IIT in every state is not the problem but the problem is to have the same quality education across all IITs. Moreover, everything takes time to be in shape. It needs patience, skillset, knowledge, and experience to make an institute a quality one.
Employers have the choice – JEE ranks are at the 12th standard – industry wants engineering graduates – most IITians want managerial jobs – who wants reservation entrants? Also, 50% of IIT are PG – mostly left overs of other engineering colleges – so only 25% of IIT UG graduates are top tier another 25% are PG – yo expect more than 50% placement is greetings.
Often, some of these PGs do a way better job at engineering than the so called cream of the crop, who have been coached all their life at mugging factories.
In India , the higher education has expanded without any body bothering about Market. It is not like basic essential schooling that is for responsible citizenship. Any one spending time& resources on degrees , would expect some career gain.
The mess up with Engineering education is both in terms to creating a glut, irrelevant curriculum &sub standard outcomes. Excess supply & substandard quality are creating unemployment & depressing market value. We need to reduce intake by 75%& must impose stringent quality standards.
Industry to shrugg of their responsibilities to acquire Educated and skilled manpower and train them as per their customised need , keep on blaming the educational institution. This has become the latest fad. Its easy to blame the education institution, but stand in front of a mirror and check what you do for the freshers to develop them and help them identify their potential. The So called industry Leaders should introspect and see what they were 30 years back when they passed out of the intitutes. Be it IIT, IIM or any institution, they impart basic knowledge to the students. These students show they capailities when industry give them the opportunities of a proper work environment and support. You just cannot buy a vegetable from the market and expect it to come as per your customised need. You need to cook them into various delicacies based on your experience and skills in cooking. These Leaders lacks these basic empathy and skills and pass on the blame to the students and education institutes.
I think major reasons remains unearthed –
1) May be the top tier industries, dominated by Foreign companies, won’t prefer an Indian at top too soon.
2) India’s lack of R&D facilities will deprive the most brilliant minds to actually reap the benefits of cutting edge thinking. Merely making slaves of the job industry should not be focus of IITs.
3) Curriculum is not updated with latest trends of technology used by Industry. More hand to hand collaboration is required for keeping the best talents updated with latest knowledge, during their education time, not afterwards, as industries won’t like to pay for further learning.
The loss from such a scenario will be of India only. Because these students are really extraordinary, cut above the rest. If they do not get suitable opportunity in this country, they will look elsewhere and most of them will see high success in another university abroad and brighten their image. Some, with little monetary resource may become obscured, like Ramanujan did.
An IIT student is having very good computation and numerical problem solving skill and of course good memory besides Hard work. These skills have enabled him to excel school and college curriculum and competition. However, in factory shop floor or construction site or marketing jobs these skills are not helpful. Rather, many tier II or III passed engineer with good administrative skills will perform better, more so if the working environment is TOXIC. The Employer don’t find any better output from an IIT an. Secondly, those entering also don’t take interest in routine and repetitive jobs and seek better opportunities in Govt. or abroad. Thirdly, ISRO and DRDO have demonstrated that you don’t need IIT an. Only 2 per cent are from these coveted institutions. Lastly, the stress should be on on the job learning and experience. These degrees are not of any practical value after 5 years.
When students after passing civil, electrical or mechanical have to join the Finance cos, foreign / investment banks, logistics, etc the discussions by HR experts on engineering curriculum, training are irrelevant, I consider.
With Internet, Covid, Edtech access to learning and job opportunities have expanded tremendously.Its high time to change perception of candidates based on tier of college. With right mindset and entrepreneur spirit even people from small villages in India are doing good business,Again all thanks to shows like Shark Tank that is giving complete different outlook of nation building.
It is very necessary to increase the academics of IIT,s not the number so that they can produce the future ready skills.the government must be pay attention on this.
IITs must focus more on research based stuff that can dominate market and low on service based output.
Industry expects return on investment ROI accordingly employable engineers are need , IIT’s over expanded without intellectual Industry research centric Guru , entrance examination system are coaching mug up oriented. If Industry pays crores of salary then it is expected to get return then only module of education works.
I am doing IIT and now I am confused that should I continue it or not
I don’t agree to this article at all. An IIT graduate is a cream, then why are they being groomed for Jobs.
They should be trained to start their own ventures. Rather than the projects being a formality, they should be pursued with passion and finally a startup. Every IIT graduate should make SURE TO PROVIDE A MINIMUM OF 10 JOBS, the unemployment will just disappear
I am currently persuing my bachelor’s degree from IIT madras. But I think the college matters very much less in shaping the overall personality of an individual. Rather the thing matters is the determination and fire of one to Excel in his field and gain practical knowledge along with theoretical. And gain experience in parallel to his course for not being the part of those people who think that they have made and achieved everything and now they can get a job as a piece of cake.