Telangana, AP Recession: Blow to campus placements as IT firms freeze hiring, increase layoffs

Hyderabad: Are we in recession yet? Yes, says the prevailing situation. One of the many indicators is the reluctance of many IT companies to begin campus placements in engineering colleges and universities.

Gone are those days when the youth who have entered their final year of engineering can walk out of college with a job through campus placements. This year, many colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana saw very few companies approach them for recruitment, leaving the students worried about their future.

Previous requirements yet to start work

Speaking to NewsMeter, D Giridhar, dean of placements at Gayatri Vidya Parishad in Visakhapatnam said, “Many prominent national and multinational companies this year are not hiring students. One of the main reasons is because those who have been hired last year are still on the bench, especially those from the IT departments.”

“Most IT companies are dependent on US projects. The students who passed out this year will be affected. The ones who got jobs are being forced to work for low pay. In the era of recession, students should have exceptional skills to get good jobs,” said Dean Giridhar.

According to the placement officers, companies such as Infosys and Wipro have already decided not to hire this year. Prominent IT companies which usually go for mass hiring have shut down their placements in many colleges.

The ones who got through campus placements are stuck in limbo.

“I got a job during campus placements last year. However, due to a lack of new projects, I have been put on the bench and given a basic package. Many of us like me are now learning new courses to update our resumes,” said Aditya, an IT techie from Hyderabad.

Earlier IT boom attracted many youths

The situation of meagre placements is widespread in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where the majority of youths choose to work in the IT sector.

“For many years, there has been peer pressure on the students to work in IT. Around 15 years ago, IT was in boom and students were attracted to the high-paying jobs in the US. The same is continuing. Many parents even now want their children to opt for engineering, get a job and fly to the US,” said Radha, a professor at a college in Hyderabad.

Speaking to NewsMeter, a fourth-year-engineering student from Visakhapatnam said, “Campus placements should have started even before we finish our final examinations. But so far, we haven’t seen any. The sad part is that many of our seniors who were placed last year are still waiting for their turn to start working.”

Time to upgrade skills

According to Ravi Chandra, director of Placements, MLR Institute of Technology in Dundigal, “There has been a 40 per cent drop in campus placements. Usually, a company recruits 100 students, but during recent recruitments, only 30 students were taken. It might take another few months for the situation to become normal.”

“Only those with good technical skills are getting hired. Earlier, even an average student could easily get placed. Students must build their skills at this time,” he added.

Recession continues

In 2024, Google laid off 1,000 employees from its workforce, followed by its tech counterpart Microsoft with 1,900 layoffs. Recent data from Layoffs.fyi shows that 104 tech companies have fired around 28,970 employees in 2024. The companies have attributed pandemic over-hiring and recession as reasons driving the pink slip situation. However, we cannot stop wondering if the AI boom has anything to do with this.