Business schools see placements pick up this year

Median pay had stagnated or, in some cases, even dipped for the batch of 2024 versus the one that graduated in 2023

- Devina Sengupta & Pratishtha Bagai

However, placement executives said that geopolitical shifts are clearly leaving a mark, with some recruiters even posing questions on the global business environment to candidates.

Placement heads of some of the older IIMs said that while crore-plus salaries have been coming in, the median pay packages are similar to last year's or have seen marginal uptick. Recruiters from consulting, manufacturing and, in some cases, financial services too have shown higher interest in hiring so far this year.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, one of the older IIMs, has already placed its first cohort and, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the students were "upbeat" about the placements this year. The management college did not respond to Mint's queries.

Recruiters, too, are pointing to hiring more this year. "Our hiring numbers have gone up this year, and we will likely hire more candidates from the IIMs compared to the last two years," said Supratik Bhattacharyya, chief talent officer for RPG Group. According to Bhattacharyya, the business house typically visits older IIMs such as IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow as well as other premier campuses such as FMS, SP Jain or XLRI.

Placements at the older IIMs typically begin in end-January and February, while the newer ones' placements begin the previous December.