13 IIMs unlucky for placements: Sluggish economy leave up to 15% graduates without employment

MUMBAI/BANGALORE: Placements at the Indian Institutes of Management ( IIM), which got off to a brisk start, are now feeling the impact of the downturn gripping the Indian economy. The pressure is being felt by both old and new IIMs, which have 5-15% of their batches left to place.

Officials in charge of placements say a combination of factors, most notably the feeble state of the economy but also a bulge in the number of students, has made the current placement season the most challenging in years despite IIMs reaching out to more companies. In all, 13 IIMs have to match 2,800-odd students with potential recruiters.

"All IIMs have had trouble with placements this time," says Krishanu Rakshit, placements chairperson at IIM-Calcutta. The oldest among the public business schools, it was set up in 1961. IIM-C kicked off final placements on March 3, but has over 5% of its 462-strong batch left to place.

Last year, it had placed all of its 350 students from the class of 2012 in just four days.

"Had we had the same batch size as last year, all our students would have been placed by the third or fourth day. It's the final 100-odd with whom we are facing difficulty," says a person associated with the placement process at IIM-C. According to Rakshit, banks are hiring, but investment banks are cutting back sharply.

At IIM-Lucknow, the batch size is 430, compared with 380 last year. "We have always managed to finish our final placements in a week, but this year they are still going on. About 10% of the batch is yet to be placed," says a member of the placement committee.

                                  STUDENT NUMBERS HAVE GONE UP

For IIM-Lucknow, the final round began in the last week of February.

"Our next batch comprises 460 students and we cannot increase anymore. Infrastructure is not the problem, but placements are," he adds.

IIM-Bangalore has just five students left out of a batch of 381, but officials admit this year has been a struggle. "It is luck that we are left with so few numbers to place," says an IIM-B placement member.

IIM-Ahmedabad maintained its position at the top of the heap, with student placement committee coordinator S Balasubramanian saying all students have been placed. However, sources said the institute faced difficulty as well.