Petrofac Petrofac cancels five placements at IIT Bombay

Petrofac has withdrawn five placement offers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, amid a slump in activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mumbai Mirror has reported.

Oilfield services provider Petrofac

premier technical institute

IITs and IIMs

IIT-Bombay

institute’s alumni associations

network of global corporate connections

NMIMS feels recruiters will honour commitments

Recruiters defer joining dates in NMIMS; other IITs, IIMs in the same boat.has rescinded five placement offers and an Andheri-based banking and financial services firm has withdrawn one offer at IITBombay in the wake of the ongoing Covid crisis. Furthermore, as many as 50 to 60 firms are yet to confirm their offers made during the first phase of placements at thelast December.With industrial and economic activity coming to a halt due to the pandemic, top institutes across India, including the, have seen corporates withdraw offers over the course of the last month. At the time of going to press, Petrofac had not responded to Mirror’s queries.An IIT Bombay student, whose placement offer was revoked, told Mirror that he got his withdrawal letter in April. The company had planned major projects with huge investments, which had to be suspended at a short notice as result of the crisis in the oil sector. He said, “The refineries are not working. Work contracts are on hold. So, the firm could not honor our offers. Right now, we are not expecting any proper conversation from their side. We are hoping everything settles down and work permits are restored so that we can open communication with them.” He said he has not reached out to them as they cannot assure candidates like him. “I plan to contact a few other firms that were earlier interested. There will be more options ahead. I am just waiting till June for things to improve. There is also a possibility of sudden growth in opportunities,” he said.To tide over the problem,has requested all the recruiters to defer the joining of the selected candidates until August 1, to which most of them have agreed. Students said about 50 to 60 recruiters have to still confirm their offers.One student whose offer was withdrawn by another oil services provider Shlumberger has been re-employed in the same firm, but in a different vertical, the institute told Mirror in an email response.Sources at IIT-Bombay said that as companies started withdrawing offers, there was an initial plan to create a portal from where students could be picked up by other firms that had an immediate requirement. However, given that there were only a few cases, the portal was not found necessary. Meanwhile, thewith theirare helping to look for more options.For the first phase of 2019-20 placements at IIT-Bombay that started on December 1, 1,700 students had registered. The second phase in January was earlier put on hold. The institute said it is in progress at the moment and some companies have already shown interest in hiring students. Online and telephonic interviews are being conducted and students whose offers were revoked are allowed to participate in this phase.At IIT-Madras two companies withdrew placement offers, driving students to refresh their job searches on employment portals. IIT-Madras said the institute has reached out to its alumni with a request to help in finding suitable placement opportunities for students who have lost their job offers and those who are yet to be placed.Similarly, students from top business schools, including the IIMs and Mumbaibased NMIMS, are facing the brunt of economic distress.A faculty member from a management institute told Mirror on condition of anonymity that many students have told him that in Mumbai institutes, as well as in IIMAhmedabad, many offers have been put on hold. He said, “That means the joining dates have been advanced. It is quite frightening as 50 per cent of the class is waiting for confirmation of offers. Summer internships are continuing as that can be done online. Actual withdrawal of offers is less. Very few have joined the jobs, but a large majority who had overseas offers with high salaries have been put on hold.”In an email reply, a representative of NMIMS said the final placement offers “are just trickling in” and there is uncertainty about joining dates. The institute wrote, “As of now we feel that our recruiters would honour their commitments. Some have announced the e-onboarding (getting employee on board) dates and many have said that the joining dates would depend on the government mandates, the unlocking steps and schedule of each company, travel and other advisories, depending on how the situation pans out.”