Almost 80% drop in startups lining up to hire from IIT-Madras this season

With just two days left for IIT placement season to begin, it seems startups have lost their flavour this year.
Almost 80% drop in startups lining up to hire from IIT-Madras this season

CHENNAI: With just two days left for IIT placement season to begin, it seems startups have lost their flavour this year. It is learnt that only 20 startups have confirmed their participation in the placement at IIT Madras this year, while last year 97 had lined-up making 285 offers. This is the norm at all IITs across the country, according to the All-IITs Placement Committee.

E-commerce giant Flipkart preferred to stay out with the obligation of honouring last year’s recruitment commitment. However, the good news is that core companies are filling up the vacuum left by the startups.
A record 402 companies have booked a slot at IIT Madras and it is estimated that close to 1,400 offers would be up for grabs. A total of 1,206 students are in contention. On December 1, the day one of placement season, 22 companies would lure the cream. And no startup is on the list on Day one.

Besides startups turmoil, Chennai floods in December last has hampered the recruitment drive. Only 216 companies out of 300-odd firms registered ended visiting the IIT Madras making 872 offers, which was way below par.

Kaustubha Mohanty, All-IITs Placement Committee (AIPC) convener, told Express that Flipkart hasn’t yet absorbed students previously hired. “The company has committed to take onboard all the students by December 1. We will wait till December first week and if the company fails to keep its word, AIPC will blacklist Flipkart,” Mohanty said.

Earlier this month, Nitin Seth, Chief Administrative Officer of Flipkart, released a statement saying the firm has 175 students from IITs interning and will make PPO offers to some of them. “We had deferred joining of about 250-odd students from IITs and IIMs who will join us in mid-December,” he added.

To a query, the AIPC convener confessed that there was a dip in startups participation across all IITs. “We don’t want these firms to play with the careers of our students,” he said adding that AIPC had blacklisted 30 companies, including 28 startups, for one year in August  following last year’s mess-up. Also, 12 other companies were issued warning letters. These 12 companies are also not taking part in placement drive this season and are under the scanner like Flipkart.

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