30% of placed students join work virtually; Microsoft offers Rs 44L pa at VJTI for 2020-21 batch

MUMBAI: About 20-30% of students from the 2019-20 batch who had bagged offers during campus placements are being virtually onboarded by companies though there is no clarity yet on their final-year exams. While a few of these students from non-IIT engineering colleges were taken on board in July, others are expected to join in August.
Amidst the lockdown gloom, some colleges are getting encouraging responses from IT-based, finance and consulting firms that are keen to hire students from the 2020-21 batch too.
At VJTI, Microsoft has picked a student from the current final-year batch for a package of Rs 44 lakh per annum, during the virtual placement drive this month. Uddan Ltd selected a student for a package of Rs 37 lakh pa and four were picked by Morgan Stanley for Rs 28 lakh pa. The process for Japanese firm Rakuten offering Rs 40 lakh pa and SAP Lab offering Rs 36 lakh pa is still on. IT-based, finance and networking firms are showing interest, said Nitin Gulhane, head of training and placement, adding that hiring at production, civil and manufacturing firms are stalled.
Of the outgoing batch, Gulhane said 150 of the 499 students who were placed in 2019-20 are being virtually onboarded. “Some firms are waiting for the government decision on final-year exams,” he said. The college also started an extended placement drive for 2019-20 batch students who missed out on study abroad options.
At Thadomal Shahani Engineering College in Bandra, about 20% of the total 184 placed students (2019-20) have joined work, virtually. And in the placement drive for the 2020-21 batch, 10 students were picked by Deutsche Bank for a package of Rs 19.63 lakh each. The bank has offered Rs 75,000 pm for a two-month internship. The process for JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, with a package of more than Rs 15 lakh is in the pipeline. Principal GT Thampi, said, “The internship offer is new to us. These are new beginnings and the industry is also experimenting with newer models for employee selection. IT, investment banking is thriving in the otherwise depressed market.”
Morgan Stanley has picked three students from the 2020-21 batch at DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering in Vile Parle for a package of Rs 25.5 lakh pa, and five have been placed in JP Morgan for a package of Rs 14 lakh, said principal Hari Vasudevan. From the outgoing batch of 2019-20, around 20% of the placed students are virtually onboarded, including 39 hired by Quantiphi alone. Some students will be onboarded by TCS and Infosys in August, he added. “Though software industry still leads in hiring, jobs are available in core sectors, finance and consulting firms. As of now, hiring in these sectors seems to be unaffected by the lockdown,” said Vasudevan.
Most firms have deferred their joining dates for students from the 2019-20 batch, and very few have withdrawn their offers, said colleges.
Nainesh Koli, placement officer at Mithibai and NM Colleges, said 15% of the placed students from the outgoing batch are being virtually onboarded now. “Some companies have deferred their joining dates, while a few are changing the full-time offers to internships,” he said, adding that students seeking jobs independently may find it difficult without their degrees.