MBA Placements 09 Trends: Economic downturn hits IIMs; Avg salary dips 25-30%

Indias leading management portal MBAUniverse.com analyzed this years placement trends and compared it to previous years reports of all IIMs to draw this conclusion. It has been examined from the placement reports that students are being offered lesser salary as compared to last year. Considering the current economic meltdown and shrinking job opportunities in the market, passing-out students are left with no other options than to accept job offers with low salaries. All students of Post Graduate Programs sitting for placements at IIM Ahmedabad have been placed; however, there is more than 30% dip in the average salary of the batch, says Mr. Saral Mukherjee, Placement Chairperson, IIM A.Most of the IIMs have seen decrease in the average salary during the recently concluded placement seasons as compared to last year. Take IIM Ahmedabad for instance, this years average domestic salary has come down to Rs 12.17 lakhs from previous years Rs 18.75 lakhs.

On the international placements side, the picture is even dull. Last year, there were several offers made in the range of US $280,000 to $360,000; while this years figure shows that the highest international offer was US $83,000.Similarly, the average salary fell down by around 23% this time at IIM Calcutta. The domestic average salary this year has been Rs 12.70 lakhs with the highest offer at Rs 60 lakhs per annum. While the average figure for 2008 was Rs 16.40 lakhs with maximum level at Rs 65-70 lakhs. This years highest international package at IIM C was an exception to this years trend at other IIMs as the highest figure touched US $86,785.While commenting on the big slash in the average salary offered to students this year, Prof Prafulla Agnihotri, Placement Chairperson of IIM Calcutta, said, While it should be noted that the average salary fell considerably, it has to be emphasized that the firms that visited IIM Calcutta campus last year did not lower their packages this year. The intake per company has come down resulting in the fall in packages. While speaking on placement scenario and salary packages offered to graduating students, Prof Prashant Salwan, chairman of placements, IIM Indore, said, The reactions of recruiters were mixed at IIM Indore. It has been seen that some sectors like Sales & Marketing and systems registered considerable growth in the average annual salary. For instance, the students of sales and marketing were offered Rs 12 lakhs last year, while this year the figure rose to Rs 13.44 lakhs. Similarly, students from Systems Management got average salary of Rs 10.63 lakhs as compared to Rs 9.2 lakhs last year. Overall, the scenario was not quite different at IIM Indore as compared to other IIMs because dipping down average salaries of students remained a concern for all these institutes. At IIM Indore, annual compensation of Rs 9.65 lakhs per annum was offered to candidates without experience; candidates who had prior experience were extended offers with an average annual compensation of Rs10.67 lakhs. While the average salary offered to students last year was Rs13.07 lakhs.The economic slowdown has also made its impact on the final placements of students at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM K) as the average annual salary of 2009 batch declined considerably.Commenting on the placement scenario this year, IIM K placements chairperson Dr Purani says, The average annual salary offered this time is Rs10.56 lakh, a 28% dip, as compared to the last years Rs14.83 lakh.MBAUniverse.com will continue with this special series on placements 2009.

Stay tuned to know the new trends, most sought-after sectors emerged in IIMs placements 2009.