BHUBANESWAR: The industrial sector saw unprecedented growth in 20th century. This increased the number of jobs in engineering and its allied subjects. However, the trend is declining recently due to various reasons. The hardships of being an Indian engineering student are already a cliché. The saturation point reached by many private and government firms is proving to be a major hurdle in the growth story of an average engineer. Be it in Computer science or Civil, or any other field for that matter, there is a dearth of engineering jobs across the country. The situation in the state is no different. Bhubaneswar, the supposed educational hub of the state, houses many unemployed and underemployed youths of the state. The future of students currently pursuing engineering degrees is no different. Orissa Post interacted with some of the future engineers of the country.
Requesting anonymity, a 2nd year student pursuing electrical engineering in KIIT University said, “Firstly, the strength of a batch on an average is around 3000 students in 2018. The huge number of students per batch reduces the chances of a good placement. Moreover, recruitment is also based on which branch you are admitted to. Students wishing to study in these universities have to cough up exorbitant sums of money for some streams. The average cost of engineering courses in these private universities is 4-5 lakh per annum. However, most of the students regret this investment as they are not rewarded with suitable jobs. The largest recruiters in these firms are BPOs/call centers. Even some core branch (Civil, Electrical and Mechanical) students of these colleges end up in the IT sector.”
A 2011-batch student of ITER College Suman Lata said, “It was a mistake to join this college as there is no guarantee of a job after the four-year course. Even after spending millions and working hard for all these years we are forced to look for jobs on our own as quality of the placement cell is awful. The students who do get a job end up with lesser remuneration than they expect. I had joined this course due to peer pressure. However, I would change my stream after completing B-tech and pursue a career in the civil services.”
If statistics are anything to go by, 50% of the engineering seats of the state are vacant. This can be attributed to poor placements and attritions. A recent phenomenon which is giving sleepless nights to engineering students is Artificial Intelligence (AI). This innovation threatens to cut down a huge number of manual jobs in various industries. Despite its subdued presence in India now, we will see its emergence in various sectors. The aforementioned facts show a grim picture for engineering students and employees. Robust policymaking and efficient implementation by the state and central governments would be vital in the revival of the sector.