38% of IITians across all 23 campuses jobless in 2024: Report

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are facing a challenge in job placements for the current academic year, reveals new RTI data. 

Around 8,000 IIT students, representing 38 per cent across 23 campuses, are still unplaced. Out of 21,500 students who registered for placements in 2024, only 13,410 have secured jobs, leaving 38 per cent still searching. This is a significant increase compared to two years ago.

Dheeraj Singh shared troubling data on LinkedIn about job placement issues at IITs. According to the data, a significant percentage of students at IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi have not found jobs through placements. The data also indicates a worrying trend of increasing numbers of unplaced students at both older and newer IITs. 

Suicides On The Rise:

This crisis is taking a toll on students' mental health, with six IIT students reported to have died by suicide this year.

"The doubling of unplaced students indicates a precarious situation in our top engineering colleges. Approximately 61% of postgraduates are still unplaced. This is an unprecedented job crisis affecting our premier colleges and young graduates," Singh emphasised.

IITs are now seeking assistance from their alumni networks to help place current students or recommend them to companies in need of engineers. 

IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay have reached out to their alumni for support, with about 10% of the batch at IIT Bombay still seeking employment. The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) has also sought support from its alumni network. 

V Ramgopal Rao, Vice-Chancellor of BITS Group, mentioned that placements have seen a decrease of 20% to 30%. 

He also noted that the emergence of ChatGPT and other large language models has impacted hiring practices, leading to a decrease in hiring demand.