Intent of Offer Vs Offer

At IIT Mumbai, Job Letters Turn Into Pink Slips


Source: The Indian Express May, 2002

JAYSHREE BAJORIA

MUMBAI, MAY 3: Sleepless nights, gloomy faces, tired looks and red-shot eyes. It’s not just the morning after the farewell parties at Powai’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

The students are living the nightmare of the economic slowdown: letters of deferred and withdrawn jobs are trickling in and an increased number of students are joining the list of the unemployed.

This year, 120 out of 500 students are left with no jobs, no scholarships abroad and no option but to join the millions surfing the Internet for ‘jobs.’ While around 60 students had not been picked up by any company, the number of jobless rose to 120 when Infosys, SLM Software and Tata Infotech sent regret letters asking students to look elsewhere for jobs. While TIL ‘deferred’ 11 jobs and SLM Soft 22, Infosys dropped 60 students. Out of the 93, about 30 had other options.

The letter of regret from Infosys (dated April 16 but landed at the institute on April 22) was the real shock. ‘‘Please inform the students to look for other options/alternatives and not to expect any employment from us,’’ said the letter from the company which is now headed by Nandan Nilekani, arguably IIT Powai’s most famous alumnus.

Ashwini Tank from Jaipur came to IIT four years ago and landed a job with Infosys in July through campus recruitment. By the time the letter of offer arrived in January, he had taken his GRE and secured a score of 2100.

‘‘After my offer letter came, I gave up any plans of studying further as I was very happy with the job. I am good at programming and coding and that is what I wanted to do. But now, in April, they have sent their regret letter asking us to look for other options. But we have no options left. My computer has a new folder and it is called ‘jobs,’’ says Tank.

Students say the letter came when there were hardly any more companies coming to recruit, and when it was too late to apply for a US scholarship. ‘‘When the offer letter had not come till November, I started calling up the institute to ask if they had any plans to defer our jobs. But they kept denying it and in fact, in January, finally our letters came,’’ says Tank. ‘‘But suddenly on April 22, they sent us a regret letter asking us ‘to look for other options’. But where are the options? Is this any time to look for other options?’’

Another student, who was also picked up by Infosys asks: ‘‘Why did they present themselves as unaffected by the slowdown when they sent us offer letters? Why are they recruiting fresh students in the first place when those recruited from the last batch are simply sitting on the bench?’’

Even as most other IITs had received regret letters from Infosys which has deferred jobs to 1,300 students it had promised to recruit this year, Mumbai IITians still had hope — maybe because at the helm of affairs is one of their alumni.

Rahul Joshi, who comes from Jharkhand, says: ‘‘My entire family was banking upon me to get this job so that I could support them. I still haven’t told them. I don’t know what to do next.’’

When contacted in Bangalore, Infosys denied that it had cancelled any job offers. ‘‘No offer has been cancelled. The initial letter was an intent of offer. However, we can’t confirm a date when we will be able to recruit. In the meantime, they are free to pursue other careers or look for other option,’’ said the company’s spokesperson.

Said Tata Infotech Managing Director, Nirmal Jain: ‘‘Yes, we have asked couple of students to look around as the current position is very tight. In fact, we are just following the industry trend as most of the companies are unable to take students whom we have offered jobs.’’

He added: ‘‘We are not offering any compensation to the students whom we have asked to look around. But we have promised them that as and when things improve they would be the first people to get the positions.’’

The situation has prompted IIT-Mumbai to reassess its placement policy. N S Rathi, placement officer of IIT-Mumbai, says Mumbai-based SLM Soft too sent a letter deferring jobs for 22 students owing to a recent merger. ‘‘All IITs are now planning to go back to the old method where the process of placements would begin in October and not July. It was only with the coming of the IT boom that we were forced by the companies to start placements in June but now as uncertainty is rising, it is best that placements take place late.’’

The IITs have already extended their placement process by a month. But for the present batch, it may be a bit too late. Says Nishchaya Gera, student placement coordinator: ‘‘120 is an unachievable number to place within a month.’’

Some names have been changed to protect the identity of the students)

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Some questions for your thought.

1. Do you think "Cancelling the Job Offers" at IIT Mumbai would affect the "The Best Employer Brand Image" of these firms and thereby reduce their competitive advantage?

2. Do you agree with Infosys Spokesperson's statement that Infosys had not really cancelled any job offers since what they had given to the students was only "Intent of Offer"?

3. If you were the placement coordinator at IIT, Mumbai, what would you do to resolve the placement issues present in the above case?

4. Have you or any of your friends gone through similar experience where the job offers or intent of offer has been cancelled by the prospective employer?  If so, how did you or your friend handle the issue?