The placement season at various campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) started in December 2023. The placements at IIT Delhi are specifically garnering attention, as the Right to Information (RTI) data filed by Dheeraj Singh paints a concerning picture for the students. The data provided by Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and the founder of Global IIT Alumni Support Group, reveals that there might have been a decline in placements at the institute. This translates to fewers students being placed in the last five years.
Based on the RTI reply, Singh has claimed that 22% of the students who registered for job placements at IIT-Delhi from 2019 to 2023 were unable to secure a job. In the past two years, 600 students registered for the placements at the institute did not get a job.
The RTI reply claims that in 2019, out of 1,073 registered students, 934 got placements, whereas in 2020, 1,098 students registered and 943 got placement. As of 2021, 1,184 students registered, and 943 were successfully placed. In 2022, out of 1,471 registered students, 1,105 got placed, and in 2023, out of the 1,513 students who registered, 1,270 got placements.
Coming back to the current year, 2024, 1,814 students registered for placements at IIT Delhi, with 1,083 being successfully placed up to Apr 5.
As per the numbers crunched by Singh, this year, 40% of students (731) are still looking for placements. In 2023, 16% (243) of students were unplaced, while in 2022, 25% (366) did not get placed. In 2021, 20% (241) of students did not get a job, while in 2020, 14% (155) were not placed. Finally, in 2019, 13% (139) of students were unplaced.
In response to these claims, Prof R Ayothiraman, the professor in-charge at the Office of Career Services (OCS), IIT Delhi, told The Free Press Journal (FPJ), “The ongoing placement season has already witnessed over 80% of UG (undergraduate) students getting placed. Even the students who availed of placement services but did not get placed through campus processes end up finding positions through other avenues."
He further revealed that this year, the number of PhD students interested in availing placement services has gone up by six times compared to previous years. The OCS is planning to organise separate and dedicated placements for them as their career needs are different from those of the UG and post-graduate (PG) students.
For the placement season this year, IIT Delhi has a variety of industry profiles visiting campus. The students are trained on a variety of skills to enhance their employability, including skills related to their core engineering areas and AI and ML skills, among others, Ayothiraman told the FPJ.
"The Office of Career Services (OCS) at IIT Delhi arranges a lot of activities and programs to help the students make informed career choices, including but not limited to various avenues for alumni interactions, a career fair, and connecting with industry leaders and hiring teams in the corporate sector," added Ayothiraman.
He also stated that the campus hiring activities for this session will go on until the end of the academic year.
