Salaries given at B schools are confined to a single digit despite a growth in economy last year.

The life at business school placements is not smooth this year. The reason to cheer is limited. 

The salary increments at B schools is been confined to single digit despite a decent economic growth in the last year. Of course, those who were already working got major setback as they were expecting an overhaul in their salary packages. However, companies offered lesser salary hikes in placement packages at business schools as well.  Marketing, banking, and financial services have drawn the maximum interest from the students looking for placement. 

FMS Delhi has placed 209 students this year with an average CTC (Cost To Company) of Rs20.6lakh per annum. 107 students secured a CTC of more than 20 lakh per annum. Top 30% average CTC stood at 29.8 lakh per annum. Top 50% of the batch saw an increase of around 4% in the average CTC in 2017 at 26.4 lakh per annum which stood at 25.5 lakh per annum in 2016, 20.46 lakh per annum in 2015 and 19 lakh per annum in 2014.

IIM Calcutta received 474 job offers for 455 students against 499 offers for a batch of 439 students last year, accounting for a 5% drop in job offers.

However, colleges will only confess the marginal increase in the packages. “Our average salary for the 2015-17 batch has gone up. This has been possible due to the availability of a diverse pool of students for the wide range of profiles offered by the companies across different disciplines. The recruiting companies and students had the opportunity to meet mutual aspirations and expectations due to the transparent process followed at the Faculty”, said Prof. Kavita Singh, placement convener at the FMS, Delhi.

Economic factors ruling the B school placements 

Demonetisation had an impact on the hiring numbers from companies which are largely cash oriented particularly FMCG companies.Rising protectionism in the US and UK threatens companies to drop down the hiring numbers and salary packages offered for the likely reason of development. Automation is another key factor likely to impact employment dragging it downwards.

Hiring by IT companies see a decline

IT firms, which usually take the largest chunk from business schools, have dropped hiring to a significant amount due to Donald Trump’s stance on protectionism, lack of growth and decreasing operating margins. Hiring in IT has fallen by 20-40% in tier I, II and III cities.Increased demand of productivity and niche skills will be major factors in employment as companies look to be cost effective.

Infosys, a leading tech firm has acquired only 13 people compared to 40 it did last year. Wipro also has acquired only 5 people compared to 9 last year. E commerce giant Amazon, Uber and Accenture have been hiring people in large numbers. Placement prospect has improved slightly but future looks bleak and business schools will be tested. The industry gap needs maintenance. People should be moving towards growth sectors for better employment opportunities.  

A large chunk of students graduated from IIMs look for international placement and unstable economic balance coupled with rising protectionism is certain to shatter the hopes of many of them. A leading outsourcing firm expects campus hiring to fall by somewhere between 15-20% in the next 2-3 years. It will see a gradual fall and increasing competition will allow companies to offer lesser pay.   “There will be 20% reduction in job due to automation at the entry level jobs. There will be 40% - 50% job losses in onsite jobs due to visa reforms. This is applicable to large IT firms like Wipro, TCS , Mahindra etc,” said Shailesh Singh, vice president and head – recruitment business at PeopleStrong, HR technology and solutions providing firm.

However, some colleges had a reason to cheer supported by numbers. E Abraham, Director, XLRI - Xavier School of Management commented, “This year’s placement season has witnessed a remarkable increase in both the number of offers and recruiters. A significant increase in the number of new roles has been observed compared to the last year.  There has also been a significant increase in Pre Placement Offers over last year and overall increase in the salary package as well.”

Start ups have not come up with job offers that ran into trouble last year after offering jobs in business schools but deferring it later due to bad business conditions. ICICI securities, Panasonic, Vedanta, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Amazon, and Johnson & Johnson have been the top recruiters this year so far. 

The Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, McKinsey & Co have came for campus placement with other companies like Deloitte, EY, Everest Group, Gallup, KPMG, PwC, Capgemini Consulting, Cognizant Business Consulting, Positive Moves and Zensarshowing improvement in hiringin consultancy.

Major companies in the industry like HUL, P&G, ITC, Mondelez, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Asian Paints, Colgate Palmolive, AB InBev, Heinz, GSK CH havegiven more offers in sales and marketing , while the media sector had Bennett Coleman & Co.

Companies in the tech space includedInfosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL,, Accenture, IBM and Tata Sky while Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group,Lodha group and Future group hjave offered general management roles.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Avendus Capital have led the employment offersin investment banking roles. Some other companies in banking and finance include DBS, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank topping the charts. There has been a significant increase in the hiring in the e-commerce space with Amazon, Uber, PayTM being the top recruiters with almost 50% rise from the last year.

Things are changing in the business schools for recruiters that have focused on a certain profile of students that have favoured traditional sectors like engineering or finance background. Business schools and employers are looking to hire more people fromdifferent backgrounds and experience.

Besides favouredmanagement sectors such as banking, financial services and consulting, internet and e-commerce are making big jumps in most favoured sectors for management students.