Falling GDP hits campus hiring, placement could fall another 25%
Final-year management and tech students might have a hard time finding jobs: the slump in campus placement is expected to continue on the back of falling economic growth. According to Kris Lakshmikanth, Head Hunters MD, placement had fallen 15-20% last year, but will slide by another 20-25% this time. However, some companies that remained MIA the past years might launch fresh drives this time.
GDP growth has been falling every quarter. In the 2015-16 March quarter, it was at 9.1%, which fell to 6.1% in the corresponding 2016-17 quarter. It dipped further to 5.7% in the next; in 2016-17 June quarter, it was 7.9%. After the global financial crisis, private investment has been falling too: in corporate sector, it went from 16% in 2008 to 10% in 2016.
The placement cycle begins by September, but there hasn't been much movement by corporate houses yet. "(Campus hiring) was around 20% lower last year compared to 2015-16. We had to go an extra mile to place all the students," a placement officer said. According to placement officer BV Ravishankar companies are hesitant as "if they don't get business then…(hiring freshers) could add to their cost".
Though major companies like Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Flipkart and Snapdeal are going slow, it is too early to draw a conclusion for this year. Some companies are awaiting approval from their global headquarter, Ravishankar said. "(Companies) can come till the end of October."
Though most companies are tweaking their business strategies thus affecting placement, some that have remained inactive the last few years are re-entering the market, like L&T. "IBM isn't hiring because IT sector has slowed down but a lot of captives of Citibank, Standard Chartered and others are hiring in India to reduce cost," Lakshmikanth said. However, slump in demand won't affect remuneration, he says.
