Students of IIT-M Kept Away from Startups Due to Mass Layoffs 

This time on, it may not be pleasant news for startups of the IIT-Madras placement sessions. Even as the placement sessions of 2015 got more startups in comparison to the previous year, the officials of the institute noted that the enthusiasm among the aspirants has disappeared, due to the news of layoffs at a large scale. It has been observed that there are about 266 companies which have registered to materialize recruitment with IIT-M. The last year’s count of 56 has more than doubled-up to 129 startups. But on the contrary, the enthusiasm carried by the aspirants to join the startups is not that noteworthy.

"There is anxiety among students and they are not very enthusiastic about joining startups this time because there have been reports of mass layoffs at startups," said an official of Placement section of IIT-M.

"Last year students were more enthusiastic to join startups. This time, they seem to prefer core companies more." "I had a student who joined a startup last time. When I told her that this time her company did not turn up, she replied 'Sir that's a good thing for you,” he added further.

As it happens, the late placement following the floods must have dampened the enthusiasm carried by the aspirants. "We do not have much of a choice. Because of recent floods, most of the companies have recruited IIT-ians from other centres. Some companies are coming just for the sake of sustaining the relationship with IIT-M. Layoffs in startups are also contributing to the tension.”

“But because of lack of choice, those who have not applied for startups earlier are applying now," comments a final year B.Tech student at IIT-M.

The startup offers are being considered as temporary options by some aspirants. "Right now all students want to get placed. So many are taking it up as a backup intending to try for other jobs off-campus sometime later," said a final year student.

As per the feedback received from the interview room, the processes followed by placement through startups do not obey the norms carried by the institute. "If you look at traditional companies their HRs are very professional. But startups have a highly disruptive placement process; they want to interview a large number of students. They say 'all branches, all programs, CGPA no bars, we will look at anybody. It's very difficult to accommodate it," said an official who didn't want to be quoted.

There are startup biggies exemplified by Stayzilla and Ola, which haven’t appeared yet. According to officials, most aspirants are happy since the core companies have been automatically synchronized.