IIMs get deferred placement scare

Many start-ups postpone joining dates of new recruits by 3-6 months

Placements in start-ups at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) seem to be on shaky ground, months after the process was completed.

IIMs have been told by firms like CarDekho and Hopscotch among others, that joining dates for candidates have been deferred by three to six months, leaving students and B-schools jittery. According to the companies and IIMs, both old and new institutes such as IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A), IIM Bangalore and IIM Udaipur, have witnessed such a trend. In all, roughly 200-250 students are believed to be affected by deferred joining across B-schools.

Confirming the move, Amit Jain, chief executive officer and co-founder, Girnarsoft, which owns CarDekho.com, said the start-up was readying its new campus to accommodate the fresh recruits, which would be up in three to four months.

"We have postponed the joining by two months. I think around 30-40 candidates would see a joining delay. We are 3,000-odd people and are creating additional working space, which is why the delay," said Jain, adding that among the IIMs from where the company recruited, it has put students from IIM-A on priority joining. Email queries sent to IIM-A and Hopscotch remained unanswered.

While CarDekho.com has delayed the joining due to lack of workspace, B-schools say most start-ups have not given any specific reason for such a postponement.

"The usual joining dates are by May or June, but the deferment is big this time, extending up to September-October. Moreover, most of them are not even communicating the reasons. It is only through students and hearsay we understand that in some cases, it is also due to lack of funding or slack in operations," said a placement coordinator of one of the older IIMs on condition of anonymity.

Some IIMs are also reaching out to these start-ups to find a way around and avoid such deferment. "We are working with these start-ups to see what can be done. But the firms should understand that they cannot postpone it like this," the coordinator said.

According to IIM Udaipur too, deferment notices are not being routed through the campus.

"There has been one firm that has deferred the joining of students for final placements. The joining is now slated for September and six students were recruited by this firm. Its communication has not been routed through the campus and students have been informed directly," said Shabbir Husain, manager, Corporate Relations, IIM Udaipur.

However, start-ups are observing summer internship commitments, IIMs said.