“The banking firm does not wish to be named,” said Kanika K Ahuja, professor, department of psychology, and convenor of the placement cell at Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
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Top recruiters at the campus this year include Boston Consulting Group, LEK Consulting, Bank of America, Kepler Cannon, Hindustan Unilever, Blackstone and BlackRock. First-time recruiters include Blackstone, Wells Fargo and Praxis Global Alliance.
The average salary at the college has increased to ₹15 lakh from ₹11.3 lakh a year ago, more than the average salaries at some of the newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Salary packages at other leading undergrad colleges such as Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in New Delhi, Loyola College in Chennai and Christ University in Bengaluru were mostly at the same level as last year, according to college officials.
However, the overall placement numbers so far are lower, reflecting the slowdown in the job market as many recruiters have lowered their intake, according to college officials. Some companies initially scheduled to visit campuses failed to do so, said people with knowledge of the matter. These were mostly startups and technology firms that are among the worst hit by the funding winter and overall global uncertainty. “The hiring rates seem to have been impacted by economic downturns, technological shifts leading to automation, hiring freezes by companies and certain industry specific challenges,” according to a spokesperson of the SRCC placement cell. At SRCC, the total number of offers in phase 1 was 169 for the Class of 2024 versus 222 last year.”As of now, some impact of the slowdown in the job market can be seen,” said Ahuja of LSR. “The total number of offers this year has been around 100, which seems lower than that of last year.”
However, since the recruitment season is ongoing, total offers cannot be confirmed. The total number of offers for the Class of 2023 was 242.
“The mass recruiters have muted recruiting due to recession,” said Princely Samuel S, director of training and placement, Loyola College, Chennai. “Big players have frozen hiring and so for a college with a huge number of students, we are trying to cope by increasing the number of companies and also by bringing department specific companies,” he said.
Total offers so far at Loyola stand at 250 against 370 a year ago. “We are aiming at reaching the number of 500-700 students getting placed, with four months left,” Samuel said.
Ahuja of LSR said: “Almost all of our legacy recruiters visited the campus for recruitment. However, the placement numbers are a little lower than last year, although we can only conclude by the end of the placement season.”
Phase 2 Yet to Start
Phase 1 of recruitment at undergraduate college campuses usually lasts from September to mid-December, while phase 2 is from end-January to May.
Delhi’s St Stephen’s College and Hindu College did not respond to ET’s queries. The highest salary at SRCC was the same as last year at Rs 35 lakh, while average salary was marginally lower at Rs 12.53 lakh versus Rs 13.25 lakh last year.
At Christ University, the highest salary was Rs 15.75 lakh (the same as last year) from DE Shaw & Co. The average salary offered is also similar to the Class of 2023 at Rs 5 lakh. At Loyola, the highest package so far was Rs 11.75 lakh offered by Barclays versus last year’s Rs 9 lakh from Byju’s. The early arrival of some companies that would typically have visited later and the entry of several first-time recruiters helped to pick up the slack in hires, said campus insiders.