College placements dismal this year

COIMBATORE: V Arunkumar, a final year electronics and communication engineering student of a private college in Pachampalayam here in Coimbatore is feeling the pangs of economic slowdown for the first time. Along with his batch-mates, he eagerly awaits the arrival of recruiters from major IT firms to conduct campus interviews and offer fat pay checks.But unfortunately the initial round of campus placements began on a disappointing with the private sector showing signs of restraint in making fresh recruitments.
"Although recruitment has begun, only five to six students have been recruited. Compared to last year, this is hardly anything," says Arunkumar. The disheartening turnout in the initial round of recruitments is a cause for concern for both students and college authorities. The authorities claim the main reason could be the economic slowdown that has forced many companies to freeze hiring as part of their cost cutting techniques.
T Dheepan, the Managing Trustee of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore also shared a similar sentiment. "Last year the major firms visited many colleges to conduct the first phase of recruitments. But this year, they have mostly restricted themselves to the tier one institutions," he says.
However, the situation seems to be better for tier one colleges when compared to other engineering colleges. Rajesh Ranganathan deputy placement officer of the Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) points out that though there has been a dip in the number of placements, most students are likely to have appointment letters in hand by the end of December
"As of now, around 168 students have been selected through campus recruitment. We are confident most of our students will be placed within the next few months," he says.
The Government College of Technology (GCT) is also keenly awaiting the arrival of recruiters. V Lakshmiprabha, the principal of GCT said that it was too early to give details about recruitment. However, sources confirmed that recruitments have been less than the previous year. "In the last two months, around 90 students from GCT have been recruited. But last year we had around 30 more offers," says a senior professor of the institute.
"The slow down has made us cautious. But depending on the trends, this may change," says a recruiter of a leading IT firm. Recruiters say that many factors could influence their recruitment decisions. "From the U.S election to the changes in the economy, there may be many reasons which affect the industry," says R Venugopal, the Coimbatore Centre Head of Robert Bosch. Last year they recruited around 250 students. This year they have not decided on how many recruitments they would take, he says.
A correspondent of a private college claims that they have begun to tell students not to raise their expectations. "They may have to start with Rs 10,000, and think of moving on after a year or two," he says.