Ahmedabad, June 02: The stock market seems to be on an upward curve, but things aren’t looking up at India’s premier business school, Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad.
Two months after their graduation, five of the 77 students of the Post-Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX) are without jobs.
The course, for which they paid Rs 14 lakh, involves a week-long programme at foreign universities like Columbia and Warwick and a project with a corporation abroad. It is popular among professionals keen to get on the career fast-track.
Last year, all 69 students got jobs much before the convocation. So did the 2006-07 batch.
“This is an all-time low in terms of numbers and value of offers. Unlike graduate placements, these are for senior managerial posts,” said Professor Saral Mukherjee, chairperson, placements.
Given the economic situation, even students of the regular two-year Post-Graduate Programme in Management had an extended placement season in February-March.
However, all of them did manage to get jobs by the end of it.
The average domestic offer for the PGPX fell from Rs 26.81 lakh in 2007-08 to Rs 20.16 lakh in 2008-09. Even the average overseas salary came down from Rs 72.5 lakh to Rs 61 lakh this year.
A worried IIM-A is sending out the message through the media to corporations. “The five students have niche skills. Those interested in recruiting them may contact us at placement@iimahd.ernet.in,” said an IIM-A statement.
–Agencies