Salary packages for IIT graduates take a hit, down for class of 2024

New Delhi: The annual salary packages of students graduating in the class of 2024 from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has dropped to the range of ₹15-16 lakh, as per a report by Deloitte and TeamLease. Salaries for graduates from the top 10 engineering schools—eight of which are IITs—have slightly decreased for the class of 2024, according to a Deloitte campus workforce trends 2024 study.

Out of overall IIT data of 21,500 registered students, 8,090 were unplaced which is 38% whereas in 2023, it was 21% and in 2022 it was 19%, according to the TeamLease Services report.

In the older IITs, the unplaced percentage has gone up drastically to 37% in 2024 from 22% in 2023. Out of 16,400 registered students, 10,310 got placements and 6,090 were unplaced. Whereas in 2023, out of 15,350 registered students from older IITs, 12,030 were placed and 3,320 remained unplaced.

The unplaced percentage in newer IITs have also gone up as the report states that in 2024, 40% of the students remained unplaced whereas it was 18% in 2023.

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According to the TeamLease study in May, the median yearly salary for IIT graduates has decreased to ₹15–16 lakh from ₹18–20 lakh at the old IITs in 2023. This occurs while some IITs are still accepting placements and the season is a little bit longer than it was previously.

Shift in the Job Market

Ramesh Alluri Reddy, chief executive, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, noted that the decline in median salary is particularly noteworthy across the seven old IITs. Median earnings at newly established IITs have also decreased, from ₹15–16 lakh in 2023 to ₹12–14 lakh annually.

"This shift underscores the urgency for strategic interventions to mitigate the rising challenges in the job market," he added.

Placement officer Preeti Garg noted that the average annual salary at IIT Ropar has decreased somewhat to ₹17 lakh from ₹18 lakh in 2023 adding that there is a dip in the number of students getting placed this year as well compared to the previous year.

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This comes as top offers at the IITs this year have nearly halved from ₹4 crore for the 2023 batch. Ramesh Alluri Reddy further added that the the factors contributing to the decline in median salaries include the global economic slowdown, industry shifts favouring sectors like manufacturing and electric vehicles (EVs), increased competition, and the preference for offering internships over full-time positions.

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He mentioned that despite the wide salary range, with some individuals commanding hefty packages exceeding ₹1 crore or even ₹2 crore, many graduates are witnessing offers below ₹10 lakh, with some as low as ₹6 lakh per annum.

Currently, there are 23 IITs across India with the oldest seven ones at Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kanpur, Roorkee, Kharagpur and Guwahati.