Global meltdown: IIM-A students shun finance

Ahmedabad, Nov 19: The global economic meltdown has affected placements of Post Graduate Programme (PGP) students of India's premier management school, Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), during its 'Summer Placement 2009'. Speaking at a joint press conference on Wednesday, Nov 19 on the occasion of conclusions of the event, which started on Nov 13, IIM-A Director Prof Samir Barua and IIM-A Chairman (Placement) Prof Saral Mukherjee said in view of the present economic scenario, the students who opted for placement in finance sector has come down to 26 per cent compared to last year's 32 per cent.

The duo said around 300 PGP students were placed in various national and international companies. However, world's biggest financial institute Lehman Bros absence was clearly visible this year on the campus. Last year, Lehman Bros had recruited eight PGP students. However, the first day of placements saw major global banks and consulting firms on campus, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and UBS among others.

On the first day, 115 students were placed in a job of their choice and had opted out of the placement process. This time even Planning Commission came on campus for picking up PGPs, they said. The summer internship recruitment process saw over 90 international offers made to the PGPs. However, in many cases, these offers were turned down in favour of Indian offers, they added.

UNI