Slowdown Hits Campus Hiring At Top Colleges

The third quarter results of companies have been tepid in general and companies are not too excited about prospects in the fourth quarter. That’s why employers have been slightly conservative in their hiring numbers. And the impact is visible in both top-tier and tier-II institutes - Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, tells Bizz Buzz

Bengaluru: MBA and engineering graduates passing out from top-tier colleges are not able to find suitable jobs in India in the current placement season. This phenomenon has played out both top-tier and tier-II MBA and engineering colleges, which usually see multiple offers for their students from employers.

According to sources in the know, in some colleges, around 20 per cent of the students have not been placed yet as colleges are tapping their alumni network to get those students job offers. This is not limited to MBA colleges and many technical colleges, even several top-ranked institutes, have faced problem in getting 100 per cent placement this year. “In India, not only MBA colleges, but even many top-ranked technical institutes have faced challenges this year.

For, the third quarter results of companies have been tepid in general and companies are not too excited about (prospects) in the fourth quarter. That’s why employers have been slightly conservative in their hiring numbers. And the impact is visible in both top-tier and tier-II institutes,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, told the Bizz Buzz.

Sources in the know said that factors like slowdown in global growth, slow investment by private sector in India coupled with Trump policy-induced uncertainty are seen as reasons for this conservative approach by employers.

Notably, Indian Inc has reported tepid third quarter earnings on the back of consumption slowdown. The earnings upgrade-to-downgrade ratio after the December 2024 quarter is the worst in more than five years (22 quarters), according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFS). For every company whose projected earnings (for FY26 or FY27) were upgraded, nearly four companies saw their earnings downgraded, the report said.

On the back of tepid earnings, low capacity utilisation and slow investment; private companies are going slow in their hiring plans. Moreover, Trump’s tariff war has made Indian companies more cautious on the hiring front.

Interestingly, slower hiring is also playing out globally. For instance, nearly 23 per cent of MBA graduates from Harvard University, one of the most prestigious Ivy League institutes, have not been placed in last year’s campus programme. Other MBA programmes, including the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and New York University’s Stern School of Business, had the worst job placement outcomes last year, as per reports.

Meanwhile, HR experts said that placements in Computer Science and IT trades have improved as hiring by IT firms has improved during this year’s placement season.