IITs Skip Startups For Early Placement Slots This Year; Prefer Job Security Over Packages

With the placement season around the corner, there have been a lot of speculations regarding startups being allowed to hire talent from the country’s premier schools. Putting an end to all the discussions, the Indian Institutes of Technology are reportedly giving preference to the public sector undertakings (PSUs) this year instead of startups.

The coveted early placement slots have been given to PSUs said sources aware of the development. Even with PSU’s offering lesser packages than private companies, a few institutions are planning to invite about 100 PSUs each.

PSUs that are likely to be on the list include Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, NMDC and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

Debasis Deb, Chairman, Career Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur said, “Until last year, we could not bring in PSUs and also many students were opting for startups. Our experience with the startups was not all good last year. This year, we want to bring in PSUs in the first week itself so that students get a chance to opt for stable jobs rather than pick up lucrative offers in startups.”

In another development, The IITs are also trying to persuade the Ministry of Human Resource and Development to facilitate the participation of Maharatna and Navaratna companies in the current placement rounds.

The move on the institutions’ part has been a result of the deferred placements fiasco caused by several startups previously including Flipkart, Grofers, Stayzilla, Portea Medical, Peppertap, Cashcare Technologies, MeraHunar, LexInnova, IndusInsight, China’s Johnson Electric, and GPSK.

AIPC- All India Placement Committee banned 31 startups from conducting placements this year at IITs. Students also took matter in their own hands. Earlier this year, Grofers got stuck in a legal tangle after it revoked the job offers of 67 students, a few days before the joining date. A legal notice was sent by 20 students collectively to Grofers in July 2016.

However, it was reported earlier this week that inspite of AIPC’s ban on 31 startups, a few institutions ignored the mandate and invited these blacklisted companies for placement programmes.

According to an official statement, the PSUs offer annual salaries of about $14K (INR 10 lakh) on an average. Even with a less lucrative package, institutions now are focussing on the job security and stability of their students.

With the Indian startup community poised to generate 3 Lakh jobs by 2020 and being counted among the first five largest startup communities in the world, it is time to rethink this decision.

This development was first reported by ET.