BA, BCom Placements: Arts, commerce courses see fewer job offers, slimmer packages

NEW DELHI: While the global economic slowdown has impacted engineering placements across institutions, the placement experience of undergraduate commerce and arts students in universities – public and private – has been more mixed. Delhi University’s top colleges are seeing fewer recruiters and fewer offers this year. But in less competitive settings in other states, the number of non-tech offers is growing.

Some private universities have utilised the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) guidelines on internships in degree programmes to open up opportunities for full-time employment. As Narayani Ramachandran, director, Narsee Monjee School of Management Studies (NMIMS) Bengaluru, put it, “Students are now getting the right exposure.”

This aspect was previously missing from general programmes in commerce and arts courses, stated Amit Chopra, director, placements, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, Punjab. He added that due to NEP 2020, the majority of students are getting internships and getting placed. “Majority of students are getting internships on an average [stipend] of Rs 10,000 per month. For non-technical courses, more local companies have come this time for BCA and BBA. Placements are happening across all sectors, but slightly slow in IT and tech,” he added.

According to placement cell members as well as hiring experts, the nature of skills recruiters look for is changing. Employers are now extensively looking for people who have some sense of using digitalisation as part of the roles, said Neeti Sharma, co-founder and president, TeamLease Edtech. That said, all universities don’t have the same focus on employment. “Private universities focus on employment more than public universities which [impacts] the placements across both ,” said Sharma.

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Placements at DU colleges

In Delhi University, where the placement season is still on, the overall number of offers has declined in comparison to previous years. Durjoy Biswas, chief coordinator, placement cell of Hansraj College said, “Till now 228 students have been placed with 264 offers. The number of offers have decreased from last year.” So far, the college has recorded an average salary of Rs 8.7 lakh annually and a median salary of Rs 7 lakh annually. This is slightly less than last year’s.

“Last year, till July, we closed on Rs 7.9 lakh average and gross value for around Rs 40 crore with 550 total offers and 650 students placed overall. But this year, the cumulative gross value of all the packages has dropped though the average and median salary have remained the same till now,” he said.

A similar scenario was witnessed across all the north campus colleges. Kunal Jain, president, Disha-The Placement Cell of Hindu College, said that the “marquee recruiters” have been missing from campus. “We didn’t see them coming this year. The hiring numbers have reduced a little bit with recruiters hiring less. The average package has decreased by marginal numbers but the median remained the same. The highest package has also declined.” Last year’s highest package at Hindu College was Rs 30 lakh annually.

Priya Jain, a member of the placement cell, Shri Ram College of Commerce, also confirmed that, overall, last year was a better season. She added, “There are figures that have gone down. Till now 150-200 students have been placed with an average package of Rs 12.87 lakh annually.” Last year, SRCC had the highest package of Rs 35 lakh and average package of Rs 4 lakh annually. More than 500 offers were rolled out last year.

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‘Non-tech placements grew’

Institutions outside the capital with lower targets to achieve seem to have had better luck with placements. At GNDU, for the 2023-24 academic year, non-tech placements actually grew, said Chopra. “Till now, almost 40 companies have visited the campus and almost 350 students have been placed. Last year, till July 2023, 60 companies had come with 875 students placed with an average package of Rs 6 lakh and more annually,” he added. “Recently, a leading tech company has shown interest to offer non-technical roles with a focus on Bachelors of Business Administration [BBA] and Bachelors of Commerce [BCom] graduates and now we are going for a joint campus collaboration.”

Md Mudassir Alam, training placement coordinator, Central University of South Bihar, said, “Majority of undergraduate students come here to study masters or professional courses and eventually go for higher studies. About 60% of students have been placed for 2022-23.” He added that placements are “not a concern” at government universities because they are approached by the companies themselves, even if in small numbers. “The fight is major for private universities because they have high fees. Public universities have low fees and students join the universities with a mindset on going for competitive exams,” said Alam.

While not from the ongoing placement season, data submitted for the 2024 edition of college rankings by the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) show that colleges like Mithibai College in Mumbai; University College, Thiruvananthapuram; and St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli – all top, NIRF-ranked colleges – have seen placement rates increase slightly in 2022-23 from 2021-22.

Mithibai College saw 285 students getting placed in 2022-23, an increase of 82 students from 2021-22. Similarly, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, placed 162 students in 2022-23, 10 more than in 2021-22; and St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, saw 577 students placed in 2022-23, up from 498 the previous year.

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Placements at private universities

Similarly, the experience at private universities has been a mixed bag. Kapil Pandla, dean, Sharda University, Greater Noida, said, “Undoubtedly, the market slump has had an impact on the placements of general courses this year compared to the previous one. While the magnitude of the impact varies across sectors, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of job opportunities available for commerce and arts graduates. This decline is particularly evident in the number of placements offered.”

The university saw around 97 students placed in 2020-21 which dropped to 87 in 2021-22. “The trend continued in the academic year 2022-23, with a slight decrease, 56 students getting placed, and for this year the process is still ongoing,” added Pandla. The average packages have ranged from Rs 2.5 lakh- Rs 4.8 lakh annually.

However, at School of Commerce, NMIMS Bangalore, providing internships to students has helped build practical skills and facilitated employment. “On an average, 85-87% of students opted for placements and were placed year-on-year with highest packages of Rs 10 lakh per year and lowest package of Rs 7 lakh annually for undergraduates,” stated Ramachandran.

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Job offers: Market slump

In DU, the dismal placement scenario is a result of reduced hiring across companies. “Though, the total offers have remained the same, the number of offers per company has decreased. This is mainly because last year many companies over-hired and now many had to halt their hiring because of budget constraints. Hence, overall, roles have decreased,” said Kunal Jain from Hindu.

Priya Jain added: “Last year, the companies that came to recruit on campus came in larger numbers as after COVID-19, the industries were reviving… This year they are coming with fewer roles,” she added.

However, companies are still willing to recruit and come back. “Many companies that denied two to three months back are now willing to come on campus. We do have hope that the [final] number will be the same at the end of the season,” highlighted Jain.

Chopra added that jobs for non-tech courses like commerce and arts will be there but the skill required will change. “Hopefully, by this quarter end, overall placements will pick up,” he added.