Tamil Nadu - Chennai

With downturn, IT students have a long haul ahead

CHENNAI: When the economic crisis first threatened the hopes of engineering students seeking jobs, especially in the information technology sector, students, faculty and companies were hopeful that it was a “temporary phenomenon.” There was optimism that a strengthening dollar and a new semester would bring relief. That was three months ago, and now it appears the slowdown has a longer expiry date.

Deepika*, a final-year BE student of Crescent Engineering College, chose an engineering course instead of her favourite subject of biology only because of better career prospects. But the downturn was not something she had bargained for. “Companies stopped coming to our campus after September. So I was forced to look at study options,” she says. “Let the recession settle down. The job market will be up again in two years, by the time I finish my MS or MBA.”

While 92 per cent of her seniors were placed last year, only 65 per cent of Deepika’s classmates have been given offer letters this year. “Since October, IT companies have stopped coming. Three or four companies gave us dates, but have not turned up,” says S. Mohamed Tajudeen, placement officer of Crescent Engineering College. The pendulum is swinging towards core engineering companies, he says. Against a 70:30 ratio for the IT and core placements last year, the figure stands at 50:50 now. As core hiring has always been smaller than the mass IT recruitment, the net placements have fallen drastically.

The small, but steady, numbers of the core companies are a source of solace. “Their figures are never as big as IT, but they are not falling now,” says S. Vijayakumar, placement officer at the Alpha Group of Institutions. Some core companies have agreed to provide pre-employment training, which translates to an obligation to absorb students. “This means their promises will be made good,” he says. His advice to students: “Do not be picky about location or job description.” “Jump on the bandwagon now and work for a move later.”

At Sairam Engineering College, technical certification courses are the mantra for survival. “We have made it compulsory for all our students to get certificates from Microsoft, Oracle, Sun or Cisco,” says placement officer Beulah Devamalar. The strategy is to ensure that the students are ahead of the pack in a shrinking job market. Even students who have received offer letters are taking these course as a precautionary measure, as some of their seniors placed over a year ago are still waiting to join work.

“We are telling HR personnel from IT companies not to postpone joining dates,” says Ms. Devamalar. “It is ok if you reduce salaries for the first six months, but take them now.”

*Name changed on request

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