Even as the social media is abuzz with stories of bleak placements in the top-tier business schools, at least some Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have reported placement figures above last year’s levels. But the early trend of recruitment from these top-notch business schools this year indicates a drop in job offers from consultancy firms, who generally pay better salaries.

An IIM-Calcutta spokesperson told FE that as many as 194 companies have come to recruit students from its PGP (post graduate programme) batch this year, compared with 190 last year. The premium B School’s highest pay package too saw an uptick from Rs 1.05 crore last year to Rs 1.15 crore in 2024.

At IIM-Lucknow, the number of recruiters have jumped from around 200 last year to over 250 this year, but this may also be due to a drop in placement offers from top-notch companies, allowing others to fit the bill. The total job offers at the institute remained nearly static this year at 634, compared with 632 last year.

Though IIM Ahmedabad refused to divulge the placement details for the current year, it said that the campus witnessed 23 new recruiters this year, including Bluestone, Crompton Greaves, DE Shaw, Diageo, HDFC ERGO, India Sotheby’s International Realty, and others.

Despite the grim jobs scenario, how the IIMs (Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Lucknow) have managed to do well. A professor at IIM Kozhikode, who didn’t wish to be quoted, said that “though the profile of the recruiters changes in a bad year,” the salaries aren’t impacted. “We (IIMs) have built credibility over the years. Of course, the job offers tend to be different in a tough market.”

For instance, he said, if job offers from the consultancy firms are fewer, students would opt for brick-and-mortar companies who will still offer comparable salaries.

This is evident in the placement records of this year. Of IIM Calcutta’s 2024 placements, the consulting sector had the largest share of 32% followed by firms seeking people for general management roles (24.6%). In the latter category, companies such as ITC, Dabur, Vedanta, Adani, Hinduja, Aditya Birla Group, JSW, Reliance remained top recruiters. Last year, the number of consulting job offers was higher at 40.5%, and the general management roles were just 14.3% of the total offers.

“The best companies are always in need of talented people. If the top-notch institutes like IIMs are witnessing some change in their placement patterns, it could be due to general market conditions and specific to the capabilities of individual students in these institutes,” said Ronesh Puri, MD at Executive Access.