Global slowdown puts brakes on firms onboarding campus recruits

Bengaluru: Engineering students who have got offers in campus placements and are waiting to join their dream jobs have to do so for a few more months as companies have postponed the onboarding for some months.

Following the global slowdown, companies have communicated to the selected students to wait for at least 3 months to join.

As shared by placement officers of private engineering colleges in Bengaluru, companies have not deferred the offers, but informed candidates to wait.

“The companies which have hired students have communicated that there will be a slight delay in onboarding this year due to global slowdown in the market. As per information, the delay will be 2-3 months,” said Guru Venkatesh, vice president, placements and skill development, Dayananda Sagar Institutions.

These are students of 2025 batch who were supposed to be onboarded by July. Now, the same will not happen at least till September. 

According to placement heads at various engineering colleges in Bengaluru, the placement was good for the 2025 batch.

“Compared to previous batch, placements and offers were good for 2025 batch students, but now they have to wait for the crisis to blow over,” said the placement head of a top engineering college.

To engage students till the onboarding, companies have given upskilling tasks to students. Some have extended internship durations.

K S Sridhar, placement head and registrar of PES University, said, “Companies are extending internships. Normally, they used to convert internships as offers soon after completion of internship duration. This time, they are extending them for 3-6 months”.

As shared by colleges, companies delaying the onboarding are service and product sector companies. The firms are in touch with students and giving them tasks and training in their domains. 

Some experts believe it could be because of the geo-political situation.

“The current geopolitical situation is also one of the reasons as it influences business,” feels K N Subramanya, principal of RV College of Engineering.

H N Ramesh, principal of Oxford College of Engineering, said the placement for this batch was very good and postponement in onboarding was an opportunity for students to learn and upgrade skills.

“Though this has created panic among students, we have advised them not to worry as offers have not been deferred and just delayed for a few months,” he said.