Engineering freshers brace for fewer spots as placement firms look for specialised skills

The priority is filling up roles which are vital to the ongoing projects and require niche skills. (Illustration by Suneesh Kalarickal)

Macroeconomic shifts are denting the prospects of students waiting to enter the information technology (IT) industry via placements. Various private institutes and staffing firms are witnessing minute jumps (a reduction) in IT placement for graduates, with some recruiters altogether skipping this year’s placement rounds.

Bulk hiring is also missing from the IT firms’ agenda, indicating a slowdown in hiring compared to last year’s untamed growth. However, niche skills remain in demand with a focus on emerging skills such as machine learning, prompt engineering etc.

In the early stages of this year's placement season, Gurugram-based BML Munjal has observed a modest rise in the number of recruiters compared to September 2022. Although recruiters in management did see a 27 percent jump from last year, there was no significant jump in engineering placements\.

“We want to emphasise that our placement season has recently begun, and making a direct comparison with last year may not accurately reflect the current situation,” Santanil Dasgupta, Sr Director of Career Guidance and Development Centre at BML Munjal University said, adding that it's crucial to acknowledge that companies have a relatively lower demand for talent which has had an impact on the number of hires.

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There has been a 28 percent fall in demand for technical students at Teerthanker Mahaveer University (TMU) from last year whereas the market for non-technical courses such as management, paramedical, medical, pharmacy, and many more is showing a nearly 15 percent growth.

However, the overall percentage for technical jobs is still high in comparison to other roles by approximately 20-25 percent, said Vineet Nehra, Director of the Corporate Resource Centre at TMU.

Nevertheless, human resource consultancy firm, CIEL HR, estimates a 25-30 percent reduction in the demand for entry-level candidates in the IT sector. This decline has been influenced by multiple factors such as the headwinds in the global markets, funding winter and the lingering hiring backlogs from the prior year's graduates.

“The 2023 batch of freshers are bracing for a challenging placement season, marked by cautious employers navigating hiring delays and sluggish demand leading to fewer projects on their table,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra - MD and CEO of CIEL HR Services.

During its last placement season, Mahindra University hosted more than 40 recruiters specifically for summer internship selections within the IT/ITES sector. Without revealing the percentage growth or drop, Dr Pamulapti Srinivas Rao, Head of Corporate Relations at Mahindra University said, “The industry is said to spell out the recession, we are expecting more than 60 recruiters and maybe more.”

No spot for bulk hiring

Moneycontrol got in touch with at least 10 engineering and management colleges which said that bulk hiring is muted this year and companies are focussing on skill-centric hiring. The priority is filling up roles which are vital to the ongoing projects and require niche skills.

These include AI, ML, Business Analytics, Data Analytics, cyber security, EV, Solar energy and green fuel, among others.

“Due to recession setting in, no organisation is in a position to deny a project that is coming their way. Hence, recruiters are looking for deployable/billable resources,” said Sreeram C A, Director of Career Fulfilment at the Career Guidance Centre of GITAM (Deemed to be University).

According to him, corporates are increasingly hiring through hackathons to find a suitable profile. Such firms include Amazon, PwC, Deloitte, and others.

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The hiring downturn was already visible at upskilling and placement firms during July. Platforms such as Great Learning, PrepInsta, and GrowthSchool, among others, have seen a huge spike in enrollment, especially among freshers, due to delays in onboarding by their prospective employers.

“This shift towards hiring individuals who require minimal training reflects the need for cost-effectiveness and quicker project deployment. Job seekers in the IT field should prioritise building a robust skill set and staying updated with industry trends to enhance their competitiveness in a job market where companies seek immediate value from their hires,” said Aashay Mishra, Co-Founder & COO of PrepInsta.

Hope for management students

While engineering graduates stare at a bleak placement scenario, management students have some hopes to hold on. Colleges such as Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Lexicon Management Institute of Leadership and Excellence (MILE), and BML Munjal University are witnessing year-on-year growth in recruiters and successful placements.

From 99 companies in 2022, the number has grown to 122 companies in 2023 at Lexicon MILE’s placement, marking nearly a 20 percent increase. However, it is interesting to note that the finance sector currently dominates the placements compared to HR last year.

The finance sector offers positions such as Finance Analysts, Wealth Management Operations Professionals, Investment Bankers, and experts in Cash Operations. “These financial sector roles collectively account for nearly 35 percent of the total placements, underscoring the sector's strong presence in the institution's placement landscape,” said Anup Sheth, Director of Placements & Corporate Connect, agreeing that bulk hiring is a miss this year.

According to him, the shift is apparent as companies now select just four to five students on average, a metric prevalent during the pandemic – this change underscores the increasing acknowledgement of the value of specialised skills.

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IT seems to be lagging in recruiting management students too. While IT/ITeS remained the industry with the highest recruits, it has been pushed down by banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) at SCMHRD with manufacturing at third with a difference of meagre 0.2 percent with IT.

“The number of companies participating in final placements at SCMHRD, Pune has remained relatively stable in recent years, with a slight increase of 2.68 percent from 112 in 2020-22 to 115 in 2021-23,” said Dr Netra Neelam, Director of SCMHRD.