A final-year BTech student of Prof Ram Meghe College of Engineering and Management near Badnera looked visibly worried as he stood in front of the institution and stared at what was about to come.

Standing beside him was his friend from the same batch. As their lives could be a struggle henceforth, both were planning their next move on how to approach companies and get a job on their own.

The year 2024 has been the worst for the final-year students of the college. “The campus placements have been bad,” said the student, who asked not to be named.

“I have paid Rs 4 lakh for the course. Only two or three small companies visited our college this year. They selected very few students,” he said.

His friend said that in 2023 a dozen companies, including TCS, Infosys and Cognizant, had visited the campus and the placements were better and most of the students were offered jobs.

“Last year, the placements were better but not great because some of the companies did not send offer letters to a few students even after selecting them. The placement was good in 2022. Recruitment suffered in 2023 and it is worst this year,” he said.

The two friends intend to move to Pune and pursue a customised training programme to hone their skills and try for jobs.

Not only engineering but even BPharma students expressed similar concerns.

“There have been no placements this year. I have decided to set up a chemist shop in Amravati,” a student said.

Premier tech schools such as the IITs also witnessed a dip in the number of placements this year. According to data compiled by Dheeraj Singh, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, 40 per cent of the final-year BTech and MTech students, registered for placements in IIT Delhi, did not get offers. The data also showed that 32 per cent of students of IIT Madras, 33 per cent of IIT Bombay, 30 per cent of IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur did not get offers.

Prof. Bhimaraya Metri, the director of IIM Nagpur, told The Telegraph that the dip in the number of placements is a temporary phenomenon. He said there is an unnecessary fear perception among Indian corporates about a possible slowdown in business.

“It all started last year when global IT giants such as Microsoft and Google decided to cut down their workforce. The Indian companies have become suspicious about their business prospects. There is a feeling among India Inc. about an economic downturn. But I understand such a perception is far from reality. The Indian economy with a strong demographic dividend and high GDP rate will do well,” Metri said, adding that at present the size of the Indian economy is over USD 4 trillion.

“The MNCs in India are hesitant to hire because of their parent offices’ policies. This too added to the gloom in the market,” Metri said.

He added that placements in second- and third-rung institutions have been badly hit this year. The IT and IT-enabled service companies are staying away from recruitment, he said.

“Students who have taken education loans may face difficulty in repaying the money immediately but they will get jobs once this phase is over,” he said.