IIMs feel the pinch as recession dampens placements

The euphoria over a Rs1 crore job offer for an Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta graduate seem to be over now and the general trend of placements across Indian Institutes of Management is quiet compared with the hiring spree of the recent past.

The pre-placement offers (PPO) of over Rs1 crore each from investment banks, reported by IIM-Calcutta, were made when those firms were flush with funds. Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business is also reported to have landed a Rs1-crore offer.

IIM-C has reported an 8-10 per cent decrease in pay offers in the current season compared to earlier years.

Barclays Capital is reported to have offered salary of $2,00,000 (Rs1 crore at current rates) per annum to some three students who spent their last summer with the bank.

They will join the bank as associates in their London office,' sources in the placement committee said.

The first day of the placements season at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B), however, was quiet compared to the previous years.

IIM-Ahmedabad seems to be the worst hit with only 10 companies turning up on the first day of placements with 15 offers against 30 companies and 90 offers last year. The top offer this year has been Rs25 lakh per annum, against Rs1.44 crore last year.

In a way,  it was the time spent by students at some top firs that has stood them in good stead, for the recession has taken a real toll of both placements and pay packs.

Of the four Rs1-crore offers, one is from an investment bank for its outfit in the Big Apple.

Finance companies like McKinsey, The Boston Consulting Group, Frost and Sullivan, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley still top the list of first-day placement offers in most IIMs. The first-dayers also include consumer majors such as Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, ITC and Nokia.