When the pandemic hit, there were immediate ramifications on placements at even the most revered IIMs: students lost out on internships, recent graduates lost out on jobs or had their joining dates deferred for a painfully long time which left them in a limbo, and the degree of salary revisions and paycuts (if any) is unknown. Throughout the first half of the extraordinary year, surveys revealed the reluctance in hiring amongst recruiters, and the news of layoffs and paycuts across organizations as well as a looming threat of recession added to the growing uncertainty amongst job-seekers and professionals. So how much did the pandemic eventually end up impacting recruitment figures at the IIMs?
The pandemic has had a mixed impact on final placements at some of India's top business schools in 2021. Business schools like IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, FMS Delhi and XLRI have reported increases in their average salaries as compared to last year; in fact, FMS Delhi reported the highest ever average salary for its MBA batch. At IIM Kozhikode, the average of the top-50% offers increased by over 8% compared to last year. Both IIM Calcutta and XLRI saw increases in the number of offers extended.
