<p>For the 2024-25 batch, the first phase of placements at the IITs at Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Kanpur, Madras (Chennai), Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Varanasi (BHU) started on a high note, with campuses confident of placing many more students than in 2023-24, when placements were badly impacted. That optimism has since tempered somewhat amid overall uncertainties.<br></p> — For the 2024-25 batch, the first phase of placements at the IITs at Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Kanpur, Madras (Chennai), Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Varanasi (BHU) started on a high note, with campuses confident of placing many more students than in 2023-24, when placements were badly impacted. That optimism has since tempered somewhat amid overall uncertainties.

Final placements for the Class of 2025 at the older Indian Institutes of Technology are likely to see only a marginal rise in the number of students placed over last year, despite a promising start to the season over four months ago with a rush of big-ticket offers. For the 2024-25 batch, the first phase of placements at the IITs at Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Kanpur, Madras (Chennai), Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Varanasi (BHU) started on a high note, with campuses confident of placing many more students than in 2023-24, when placements were badly impacted. That optimism has since tempered somewhat amid overall uncertainties.

Institutes are now stepping up efforts to bring in more companies, including first-timers, and leveraging alumni networks, while also encouraging students to explore off-campus opportunities as the season draws to a close soon.

The placement season ends in May/June for the IITs.

The second phase of placements, which begins in January, is typically much slower than the first phase, which ends in mid December.

“This year has been challenging due to several factors including a slowdown in the core and analytics sector and the US market downturn affecting placement trends,” said Sushant K Shrivastava, coordinator of IIT-BHU training and placement cell.

While IIT-BHU’s Class of 2025 has witnessed better placements compared to last year—including a 7-8% increase in offers from the IT/ITeS sector—on the back of multiple factors including a wellstructured placement strategy, about 20% of the batch is yet to secure placements, he said.

The institute is expanding company outreach and diversifying job profiles, aiming to place as many students as possible in the remainder of the season, Shrivastava said. In 2023-24, anywhere between 12% and 27% of students in the flagship BTech programme at the older IITs remained unplaced, according to a report by the parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports presented on March 26, 2025. In IIT Hyderabad, the BTech placement strike rate in 2023-24 was 69.33%.

For MTech and PhD programmes, the placement percentage was even lower, said campus sources. This year at IIT Guwahati, placement statistics for the current batch are largely in line with those of 2023-24, said John Jose, head, Centre for Career Development. There has not been a significant improvement or decline.

SOFTWARE JOBS HIT
“This year has been particularly challenging for postgraduate students, as companies are increasingly showing a preference for undergraduate students, who typically have a longer tenure on campus and are perceived as more adaptable,” said Jose.

The remaining season typically sees participation from companies offering lower salary packages, and thus fewer students are inclined to participate, he said.

The institute is encouraging students to pursue offcampus and lateral hiring opportunities as well.

Dheeraj Singh, alumnus of IIT Kanpur and founder of Global IIT Alumni Support Group, said software jobs are slowly getting replaced by advanced AI models, leading to reduced demands of software developers from campus hiring.

“Data analysts jobs are being most impacted by advanced AI models. There is also a hiring freeze in many large companies due to AI-induced layoffs at the entry-to-mid level. That has impacted overall hiring to an extent,” he said.

IIT Kharagpur declined to comment on placement numbers till now, saying “the placement process is very dynamic and market-driven”.

“As the number of registered students at IIT Kharagpur is the highest across all IITs, including non-engineering fields, the placement figure achieved till date is encouraging as compared to last year,” said Rajib Maity, chairperson, Career Development Centre. “Hopefully, at the end of the session, targeted placement percentage will be achieved. More and more companies are being invited to be hosted at the campus.”

A student placement member at one of the old IITs told ET that his campus had 25% more companies visiting for the batch of 2025. “We approached a mix of new companies and even those who had not visited us for a couple of years. This has resulted in about 10% more offers,” he said.

At IIT Hyderabad, over 65% of the 900-odd who participated have been placed—the institute said this is better than the same time last year.

Market fluctuations and industry requirements posed some initial challenges, but the Office of Career Services (OCS) team intensified efforts in pitching companies, enhancing students’ preparedness and leveraging alumni networks more effectively, IIT Hyderabad said in an email response to ET.

“We are actively engaging with a broader pool of companies, including startups, medium-sized companies and MNCs across diverse sectors. Additionally, placed students have extended their support for the unplaced peers and exploring off-campus and rolling opportunities to cater to varied student preferences,” the institute added.