THE global economic slowdown has caught up with plum jobs and big bucks at the IIMs.

A dismal placement season drew to a close at the B-school campuses with IIM graduates settling for fewer job offers and smaller pay packages. Usually a brisk three or four day affair, placements this year stretched on for weeks.

An IIM Bangalore student, Saurav Mukherji said, “Many of the regular recruiters have refused to participate because they have a recruitment freeze.”

Dismal pay packages is what everyone's talking about. The worst hit being IIM-Ahmedabad where it dipped by 30 per cent to Rs 12.5 lakh a year. The average salary at IIM Calcutta this year is Rs 14 lakh, which is down by 12 per cent over last year.

Make it on your own
Others have decided to buck the recession trend on their own. Ashwini Agarwal from IIM Lucknow is one such young entrepreneur who sees an opportunity in school uniform retailing. Ashiwini Agarwal said, “The current industry is a lot more fragmented and unorganised and I want to get into that and start consolidating."

PSUs in demand
In a few campuses, though, students are drumming up some joy. PSUs have made a comeback at IIM Calcutta, hiring 34 students this year, but their take home salaries would be as low as Rs 7 lakh.

However, the situation is worse in the lower-rung B schools. A student at Jaypee Business School, Dhananjay said, “When we joined college, we were told by our guest lecturers that India's on a roll, and we'll get fantastic placements. Today we're told take whatever comes your way and don't make a fuss.”

In fact, tier-two and tier-three B schools that have managed placements also have reasons to worry. Some have registered salaries as low as Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh per annum. Chairman, IKYA Human Capital Solutions Marcel Parker said, “The Grade B and C level schools have been pretty badly hit. Many of them are just unable to do anything for their students.”

With the job market unlikely to recover in the coming months, the B school dreams will be put to test.

Read: Western discovery: It pays to study at IIMs

Illustration: Abhijeet Kini

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