Where are the jobs? Business schools struggling to place students

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS) is reportedly asking its alumni network to seek jobs for the 2024 batch amid a hiring slowdown just days after Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow also reached out to its alumni as it struggles to place 72 of its students.
This could be one of the most difficult placement seasons for top business and tech schools as they have rolled out their placements for months until the last student of the batch is placed while major recruiters skip the campus placement season.
Arya Kumar, dean of Alumni Relations, wrote to the BITS alumni requesting help in hiring amid global uncertainty in businesses.
“The global economy has not experienced this kind of slump since decades. The technology sector is radically impacted, with around 4 lakhs employees being laid off globally since January 2022,” he said in the letter as per Moneycontrol.
BITS Pilani’s closing placement statistics for the academic year 2022-23 stands at 89.2 percent for Indian campuses but the hiring slowdown has deepened, he said, adding, “Although the placement teams are doing their best, they would be very appreciative of the support from our esteemed alumni to help them tide through the current crisis.”

Edtech entrepreneur Ravi Handa shared the screenshot of the message on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and said, “First IIM Lucknow, now BITS Pilani asking alumni to help out with placements. This is the first time I am seeing such grovelling after 2008.”