Sharp decline in IITs, NITs placements raises alarm over job market health

New Delhi: In a troubling sign of India’s slowing job market, the 364th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports has reported a sharp decline in placement rates at the country’s top engineering institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

The data revealed that between 2021-22 and 2023-24, 22 of the 23 IITs recorded a decline in placements, with 15 of them witnessing a drop of over 10 percentage points. In 2021-22, over 90 percent of B.Tech students at IITs who sat for placements secured jobs; by 2023-24, that figure had declined to 80.25 percent.

According to the report, the downturn is widespread and significant, calling into question the broader employment landscape for even the most skilled graduates.

The situation at NITs and IIITs is no better. This year, 23 of 25 IIITs recorded a decline in placement rates compared to 2021-22, with 16 of them seeing drops of more than 10 percentage points. Meanwhile, 27 of the 31 NITs reported a fall in average salary packages in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. Alarmingly, three NITs experienced a decline of over Rs 3 lakh per annum in average packages. The total number of students placed at these NITs also dropped by over 2,000—a 10.77 percent fall in just one year.

These institutions are known for attracting the best and brightest students in India, said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, adding: “If one-fifth of engineers from IITs are unable to find jobs, it’s a wake-up call.”

“It shows that the challenges of unemployment are no longer confined to the rural or unorganised sectors,” he added in his statement.

The findings align with broader concerns about wage stagnation and job scarcity, as indicated in recent government labour force surveys. With even top-tier graduates struggling, the data points to a deeper structural crisis.

Ramesh further said that his party has long flagged

issues of unemployment

and wage stagnation, adding that the placement figures “prove these are not isolated challenges, but widespread failures affecting even elite institutions.”