The ongoing slump in the IT and tech sector has translated into significant layoffs across companies but now it seems like this slowdown has reached college campuses. Experts and industry insiders claim that the campus placement drive at India’s engineering colleges remained muted for the ongoing placement session.
Kalyan Durairaj, Director of Human Resource (APAC) at SaaS company FourKites told Business Today, “The current slowdown has definitely impacted campus hiring this year. Due to economic uncertainties, companies are being cautious with their hiring plans, resulting in a reduction in the number of campus hires this year.”
Even college placement cell members have been observing this trend. “The number of companies hiring for core tech roles has gone down, almost 20-25 per cent. This is alarming because many students sit in placements hoping to get a job at IT and tech companies,” a placement cell coordinator from a reputed engineering college in Delhi told Business Today.
While students from the current batch appearing for placements are facing a tough competition as the number of companies hiring for tech roles have reduced, students from previous batches are still awaiting an onboarding at companies despite having valid job offers from the last year.
“Got a job offer at Wipro via campus placement in November 2021, it has been over a year, I have not yet got a joining date. They say there is no business requirement right now. If they don’t have enough work for us, why will they even hire more people via campuses?” a job claimant awaiting onboarding told Business Today.
Business Today has been reporting delay in onboarding at companies like TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Capgemini, Accenture, Mphais, LTI Mindtree, and others.
According to Anup Menon, Vice President of IT Staffing at CIEL HR, engineering students placed through campus placement in the current session are expected to encounter a delay in onboarding as well.
Menon said, “Over the next few months, may experience delayed placements, as companies take a cautious approach to hiring.”
“Companies may avoid hiring candidates from colleges in bulk and delay sending out joining letters until they actually need to fill a position,” he added.
As IT and tech companies set out to realign their fresher hiring needs amid the slowdown, experts note that demand for skilled middle management workforce is still strong.
Yeshab Giri, Chief Commercial Officer of Staffing at Randstad Technologies told Business Today, “Despite the reduced fresher intake via campus placements, currently the demand for mid-level employees with 5-10 years of experience remains exceptionally high. There is a slight shift in the hiring preferences of the recruiters who seek to navigate the unforeseen increase in demand for IT and allied services from the international clientele.”