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Even as the economy recovers from the ripple effects of crunched liquidity and questions regarding employability of the qualified youth, the IT Sector layoffs in the recent months has added to the fire. And more recently the effect was seen across the education sector as well. Reports have revealed that more than 50 percent of seats in Private Engineering Colleges went vacant last year. Even IIT’s have a vacancy this year of 471 seats after 5th Counselling Session. In the midst of such news, the question that worries everyone is whether the slump in the IT Sector the reason for dip in Engineering Admissions? And if there is a reason, is it justified? We share here the relation, if at all, between IT Layoffs and Engineering College Admissions in the country.
After months of speculation regarding the Trump Effect on the H1B Visa applications, the news finally did break and the first recipient of the same was the IT Sector and the technically qualified youth of the country. Making matters worse, the IT Sector, once a shining star of the growing Indian Economy, saw larger layoffs as top IT companies continued to cut costs and reduce the bottom line, making thousands job less. While Administrative changes in by US President Donald Trump was one of them, industry insiders have also confirmed huge shift in jobs towards Philippines where the labour costs have reduced considerably. Though the slump in the IT Sector is relatively new, there has been a consistent decline in Engineering admissions over the past three years. Experts believe that one of the reasons is the uncertainty. Related news: JoSAA Counselling 2017: 421 seats still vacant in IIT’s after 5th Counselling session
Though the time line makes one wonder at the link, the fact that most of the students are now not too keen on picking up engineering degrees from private institutes is a fact that cannot be denied. One of the reasons has been the over saturation of private engineering colleges in the country. The next, for obvious reasons, was the lack of job opportunities for the qualified but unemployable engineering graduates in the country. But the real axe has been the ever growing concerns within the biggest employers – the IT Sector which has shown a downward spiral.
An Industry expert in his comments shared that the last decade and half saw a huge spurt in salaries as the demand for engineering graduates spiralled. “The demand was such that even Chemical Engineers were being hired by TCS, IBM and Infosys and then being trained for three months for IT jobs. This led to students picking up engineering courses in the many private colleges. What also happened as a result was an unreasonable hike in starting salaries.” The expert believed that all these factors have been directly or indirectly responsible as the correction within the industry was now necessary.
Corroborating the story was a IT Recruiter who has been in the sector for thirteen years now. She shared how young talent was expecting and even getting over 200 percent hike in the salary packages. “These companies, however, are not too keen to hire anyone and everyone. With the shrinking demand from the USA, the tech sector in the country has had to re-strategise their hiring. Personnel costs have been the biggest cost factor for IT giants. Now the situation is such the beginning level jobs have almost vanished. Even for mid level management, companies are explicitly asking for good engineering colleges, a sound academic background and an Engineering degree in IT.”
When approached for comment, a professor in a private engineering college in Indore confirmed that one of the biggest concerns have been placements. “Even though there are initiatives like make in India and Digital India, the fact remains that ground level jobs in other engineering domains apart form IT are very very limited. During the recent counseling sessions, students with a good rank in JEE were not too keen in taking up Engineering and preferred to do finance instead. And you cannot find fault in that. Purpose of education is job and when the grim economic outlook does not help, higher education would continue to be affected.”
Another expert from a well known Private Engineering College in Delhi NCR has commented that the trend is only transitory, much like the slump in the economy. He also suggested that the time has come for education institutes to offer more than just a technical degree. “Institutes have to understand now that students want more. We must improve the quality of education which in turn would help these young graduates to get good jobs. We must also cater towards Entrepreneurship to give impetus to the economy and hence the focus of engineering education should also shift from teaching to training.” Also Read | IT Jobs: Andhra Pradesh Minister promises 2 lakh jobs in IT, Electronics and Manufacturing, to add impetus to IT Sector in the state
As the news keeps unfolding, experts strictly believe that students should not shy away from Engineering degrees. “India and the world at large needs engineers. Even more now. While I would not comment on the private sector, the fact remains that even IITs and NITs should increase the quality standards and help students become self sufficient, ” shared another expert. How the events unfold are still to be seen, however, the interplay of education and jobs would continue forever and for one to succeed, the other must provide.
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