Recruits panic as Bengaluru IT firms delay induction
BENGALURU: The crisis in the IT job market has affected not just those who are working in tech companies but also students who were recruited through engineering campus placements and were looking forward to joining the firms. Some companies that took part in campus placements and recruited students are now postponing joining dates. Some others have outrightly rejected them after placements.
According to engineering colleges from across Bengaluru and candidates who have got job offers from IT companies, small and also well-established companies are expressing their helplessness at giving specific joining dates to students. Jittery students have started approaching placement officers at the concerned colleges. There is no clarity on how many students have been affected as some prefer not to approach the colleges, said some placement officers. But the trend is worrying, they say.
Prof Ravishankar, placement officer at Bengaluru’s BMS College of Engineering, told Express: “Now the responsibility is on us, we need to strike a balance. We are even trying to get students placed in other companies as those who recruited during campus placements are refusing to take them in.”
Colleges are advising students to take up jobs with smaller companies for now and wait till stability returns to the industry before approaching the bigger companies.
“I was supposed to join a company in August first week. But I got an e-mail from the company saying they were deferring the joining date. They did not even specify the next date,” said a student from PES Institute of Technology (Hosur Road campus) in Bengaluru.Placement officers say earlier companies would at least induct candidates and place them on a bench. Now that is not possible as bench sizes in the companies themselves are increasing. As a result, some engineering colleges are allowing students who have not received joining dates to participate in off-campus placements that are currently on. Prof KS Sridhar, placement officer and principal of PES University, said, “This is due to certain market conditions and we are allowing even 2017 batch students to participate in the ongoing off-campus placement drives. Those who have not received joining dates yet will also be sent to other companies ready to do recruitment drives on their premises.”
Dr Savitha Rani, placement officer at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology Bengaluru, said, “Students are approaching us with e-mails sent from companies who have deferred joining dates. We are requesting the companies not to shatter the hopes of students dreaming about their first jobs. We are asking them to take students in and put them in any other team where there is a requirement.”According to placement officers, some companies sent e-mails requesting for more time. “In our college we have a two-offer system. So we are asking students to accept the second offer in case they are denied the first one,” said Dr Savitha.
Meanwhile, students who availed education loans and need to repay them having completed their course, are finding it difficult to cope with this uncertainty. “I studied engineering by taking education loan which is for a period of four years without interest. Now that my course is over, i need to start paying back in instalments. Looking at the situation, I am worried. The company that made the offer is now refusing to take me in,” said a student of MSRIT.Dr Ravishankar added, “There are many families who invested heavily in their wards’ education and are now dependent on them.”
COUNSELLING FOR ANXIOUS STUDENTS
Considering the delicate situation of students, colleges are now offering counselling sessions for students. “Faced with such a situation, some students may get depressed and resort to extreme steps. To help such students, we are conducting counselling sessions and preparing them to face the reality and wait for better options,” said Dr Ravishankar of BMSCE.