NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 3: Cab agrregator Uber is touted to be offering Rs. 1.4 crore as the salary package in the first round of the placement process at Indian Institute of technology, Bombay. The package is being talked about as the highest one on offer in the 2018 placements, although software giant Microsoft is expected to raise the bar to Rs. 1.5 crore.
Uber and Microsoft seems to have been competing with each other in the placement process. In 2017, Microssoft offered a Rs. 1.39 crore package as cost to company, while Uber offered Rs. 99 .87 lakh. Most the offers were made to IIT Bombay students. This year Uber has hired for its San Francisco office at USA, although, those who will be absorbed will have to work for a year in India before being transferred.
17 per cent more companies participate in the placement process
The first round of placements in IIT Bombay started on December 1, 2018 and is expected to be conclude after two weeks. According to reports, around 1650 students have registered for the placement process this year while 340 companies, both domestic and international, have signed up. The number of companies who have registered has witnessed a increase of 17 per cent. In the previous year, there were 310 companies at the campus. “More and more students have been opting for summer internships, which automatically leads to more job offers.
The total number of pre-placement offers (PPOs) has increased this year and we are hoping the same trend continues during placements as well,” a professor at IIT Bombay has been quoted as saying to a national daily. Besides US companies, the institute is also expecting many Japanese companies to absorb IIT students this year. International companies from Europe, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada will also be part of the placement process. The first four days have been alloted to the core engineering industries, information technology and finance companies.
IITs make changes to the placement process to ease pressure
To lift some pressure off the students, IITs have made some changes to the placement process this year. The most important of them is closing the graveyard shifts, where interviews go until 2 to 3 am. “IIT Madras stopped the graveyard shifts because it was putting too much stress on students, which is uncalled for. Our placement will run in two slots every day and the second slot will end at 11 pm,” a spokesperson said. The institutes have also conducted sessions for students to explain the start-up culture and the kind of job pressure they might face working in different sectors.
Last year, over 1600 participated in the placement process of which 1000 got placed in the first round in December.