Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other premier business and management schools across the country witnessed a jump in student placements and salaries offered in February, shunning the economic downturn and sluggish growth in corporate earnings.
Amongst the top recruiters ramping up hiring at these top tier business schools across India are the consulting firms. Whereas, the traditional employers such as automobile firms, banks, consumer durable makers and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies are cutting back on recruitment.
Management consulting firms such as Mckinsey & Co, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain and Accenture dominated the recruitment drive in most top B-schools this year. Meanwhile, FMCG companies such as ITC and Unilever comprised only 12 per cent of recruitments in 2019, down from 25 per cent in 2011.
Initial data from official placement reports released by IIM-Ahmedabad (and audited by an independent agency), as cited by the Hindustan Times, indicates that this year's placement season was highly successful, leveraging those of prior years.
The information in these reports contains thorough details on placements, comprising specifics of roles, salary and sectors. An assessment of these reports since 2011, as done by the news daily reveals, the median salary for domestic placements of the IIM- Ahmedabad's two-year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) has increased steadily.
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Although the same is arguable about the programme's international placements, which manifests an irregular trend.Data for IIM-A demonstrates that consulting firms have ruled the recruitment roost over the past five years. For instance, around 35 per cent placements in 2019 were from the management consulting function, a striking contrast to 2011 where marketing and sales were dominant, comprising nearly 38 per cent of recruitment.
Furthermore, management consulting has turned out to be the highest recruiting function in recent years, succeeding marketing and sales, which were the predominant in the earlier part of the decade, the news daily reported.
The year 2011 saw 260 domestic placements with a median salary of Rs 15.15 lakh per annum. In 2019, there were 375 domestic placements with a median salary of Rs 24 lakh. The salaries have increased around 50 per cent in the period between 2011-2019 after adjusting for inflation (during this period).
Moreover, variation between the minimum and maximum salaries has increased significantly during this period, from Rs 29 lakh in 2011 to Rs 55 lakh in 2019, the report stated.
With respect to international recruitment, the number has dropped from a peak of 40 in 2012 to just 13 in 2019. The salary trend for international placements is also erratic, with median salaries fluctuating during this period.
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