A mere 7% of Indian institutions were able to attain full placement rates, as per findings published by hiring platform Unstop in its Talent Report 2024. The report also highlights a concerning gender pay gap across disciplines such as arts, science and commerce, revealing that on average, men typically receive salary packages ranging from Rs 6-10 lakh, whereas women are offered only Rs 2-5 lakh per annum. This comprehensive report draws from input gathered from over 11,000 students, university affiliates and human resource professionals.
Notably, the looming fear of layoffs has prompted three out of five (60%) students to prioritise job security over pay hikes, a stark shift in mindset. For most of them, in-hand salary remained the most valuable salary component, followed by perks and benefits.
Unstop’s report also delved into the college or university landscape. It revealed a drop from the previous year to 10% of students interested in working for startups, with 45% of B-school students preferring established and legacy firms. In comparison, 52% of engineering students expressed openness to working with any company.
Further, marketing emerged as the top preferred domain for B-school students, while Finance and Analytics topped the list for Arts and Science students.
While 91% of students believe their college curricula offer an adequate level of preparedness for a job, 66% of recruiters and 42% of university partners feel the skill gap and lack of preparation, respectively, are major challenges in campus recruitment.
The report further elucidated that 81% of HR professionals agreed that their organisations are actively hiring, highlighting the robust demand for talent across industries. Interestingly, 88% of HR practitioners expressed a strong preference for skill-based hiring, prioritising candidates’ abilities over other factors such as past experience, academics, references, internships and projects, as per the report.