Many IIT students skip global jobs to choose domestic offers

Mumbai: Many students of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have chosen domestic postings over international ones this placement season, indicating that companies are now matching global compensations, besides offering high-growth, challenging roles in India with greater job stability.

“Some students have accepted domestic offers over international offers,” said IIT Delhi in its statement on placements which started on 1 December. Around 20 students from the institute received international job offers from Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK, and the UK.

“The students are opting for domestic roles because the compensation is similar, cost of living is lower and the growth offered is at par,” said a placement team member of IIT Delhi. The member explained these students were typically offered positions by high frequency trading (HFT) companies.

HFTs and quant companies hire candidates who can analyze markets using mathematical and statistical models. Despite the global recession, this segment has managed to recruit students from IITs at annual salaries of crores of rupees. The top offer so far is from Jane Street Capital for around ₹4 crore. Among other quant and HFT companies that have visited IIT campuses are Quantbox, Squarepoint, Tibra, Quadeye, Graviton Research Capital, JPMC Quant, Maverick Derivatives and Da Vinci.

“The students are comparing offers across sectors. Between an HFT role in India and abroad, they would take up one abroad but if the option is an HFT post in India versus another sector with global posting, they are opting for the India role,” said Prashant Singh, founder and managing director of Quantbox Research.

Quantbox hired more than 10 IIT students, offering ₹1.3-1.4 crore for domestic postings and ₹1.6-2.4 crore for global placements.

Consulting firms, which are one of the top recruiters, too have noticed the shift in preferences.

“If the Indian firm is a good brand, then students are willing to join them than an unknown one from abroad, even if the money is higher,” said Barnik Maitra, managing partner at consulting firm Arthur D. Little.

“The growth prospects, long-term US visa challenges and opportunity to work in emerging economies are a pull factor towards roles in India,” Maitra added.

Arthur D. Little has hired 15 freshers from IIT Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, and Kanpur, at annual salaries of ₹20 lakh, including bonuses.

According to a Morgan Stanley report on 31 October, India has the conditions in place for an economic boom fuelled by offshoring, investment in manufacturing, energy transition, and the country’s advanced digital infrastructure.

The firm estimated that these drivers will make it the world’s third-largest economy and stock market before the end of the decade.“The emergence of distributed delivery models, along with tighter labor markets globally, has accelerated outsourcing to India. The number of global in-house captive centers that opened in India over the last two years was almost double that of the prior four years,” the report said , calling it a ‘once- in-a-generation shift’.