Students anxious about jobs, exams

nNEW DELHI: A final-year undergraduate student pursuing mathematics in a Delhi University college is “fairly anxious” these days despite landing an annual package of ₹17 lakh at a multinational firm at her college’s placement drive last year.

The 21-year-old was set to start work in June after graduating. However, Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation uncertain. “There hasn’t been any communication from the company’s side over the job offer — whether it still stands or not. I am fairly anxious because a lot of money and my career are at stake,” she said, requesting anonymity.

“I have to rethink my decisions if there is a salary cut in the offer, because, what if they lay us off eventually? I was supposed to join in June but now, we don’t know when our exams will be conducted,” she said.

From DU, Delhi Technological University (DTU) to Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), teachers and students at higher educational institutes across the capital are concerned about the impact of the global pandemic on placements and job offers.

Rajeev Gupta, dean of student welfare and part of DU’S placement cell, said, “The short-term issue is that placement is closed everywhere. If the lockdown is extended, we may have to think of alternative arrangements for placement interviews, consisting of an online module. The longterm problem of the current crisis is that the requirements (in the job market) may go down.”

Several institutes have been conducting meetings over the issue and are reaching out to companies to “honour their offers”. Rihan Khan Suri, placement officer at Jamia, said that while no company had rescinded an offer yet, the university administration, along with the vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar, had taken stock of the situation and were thinking of ways to ensure students don’t suffer.

Rajesh Rohilla, head of training and placement at DTU, said the IT sector was likely to continue hiring since more jobs are coming up in the digital arena.

However, not all are worried about the situation. “Our placement concluded in February and all our students were placed. We don’t think any job offer will be rescinded. However, there is a chance that the joining may get delayed,” said Madhu Vij, placement convener at the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS).

On Friday, director of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, V Ramgopal Rao, had also appealed to recruiters “to be considerate and keep their promises”.