Uptick in IIM placement with strategy consulting firms, fintech and Indian MNCs among top recruiters

Top business schools have reported a positive placement season this time, with a notable surge in domestic hiring led by Indian startups, fintech firms, and manufacturing companies. Strategy consulting firms emerged as the top hiring sector across campuses with an increase in compensation for strategy consultants, this year. With multinational companies adopting a cautious hiring approach, Indian firms hired nearly 40% more than foreign MNCs this year. This was the result of rapid economic growth, expanding domestic markets, and increased demand in areas such as infrastructure, digitisation, and financial services. E-commerce and quick commerce sectors also reported steady hiring, emphasising backend operations, tech roles, and customer service. Hiring in these sectors has surged due to growing internet penetration, rising consumer demand, digital payment adoption, and the need for tech-driven solutions to support rapid delivery services.

This shift also highlights how business schools have been updating their courses to ensure their graduates are aligned with industry needs in a rapidly evolving market. Management institutes have made strategic changes to the curriculum over the past few years. Backed by faculty-industry interactions and internship feedback loops, the institutes update the curriculum every two to three years.

Institutions such as IIM Kozhikode, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Mumbai, and IIM Nagpur witnessed strong recruiter interest, with many reporting a rise in salary packages, number of offers, and industry engagement. At IIM Calcutta, top recruiters such as Accenture, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group, Zomato, and EY-Parthenon dominated the hiring charts, with consulting, finance, and IT emerging as key sectors. Ritu Mehta, chairperson, placements, IIM Calcutta, says, “Job market has remained volatile this year. Global firms have remained cautious in hiring, though Indian start-ups hiring has grown in numbers over the years. Consulting sector is witnessing rebound owing to projects resuming post-pandemic though at a slower rate, while other sectors remain volatile owing to other macroeconomic situations.”

Alumni network
Recruiters always look for future-ready managers with a combination of both soft skills and technical skills. Mehta says, “IIM Calcutta maintains a robust collaboration with the industry and leverages its strong alumni network to create an impact in the classrooms across all programmes. Several leadership talks are organised as part of the coursework where CEOs and senior leadership bring rigorous perspectives in the class. Several of our programmes also have live projects in collaboration with industry partners. The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park maintains a close partnership with startups, many of which contribute their insights to MBA courses.”

The institute also offers variety of specialised courses on soft skills. Mehta adds, “We are in the process of developing interdisciplinary courses which will be delivered through collaborative teaching by faculty from multiple academic disciplines. The institute is working on developing Enterprise GPT-based delivery models to benefit from these emerging capabilities. We continuously engage with the recruiters to assess the requirements to map the course contents.”

Sectoral shifts
Reflecting growing domestic confidence, IIM Mumbai (IIM-M) recorded a more than 10% increase in job offers over the previous year. With 198 companies participating, the average salary rose by 10%, and sectors such as pharma and healthcare led the charge with a 130% jump in offers. Consulting also saw a 28.92% rise, while e-commerce grew nearly 48%, driven by AI-led insights and digital-first models. However, FMCG hiring declined by over 30%, and IT/tech saw a modest dip, indicating sectoral shifts in demand.

The placement trend at IIM-M improved significantly, primarily due to NITIE’s transition to IIM Mumbai, and its robust curriculum in digital transformation, AI, and data analytics. Neeraj Pandey, chairperson of placement and branding at IIM Mumbai, says, “These help graduates navigate complex, fast-evolving business environments across domains such as finance, marketing, operations, and strategy. Additionally, courses offered by international experts add global depth to the curriculum, which further enhances student preparedness. Courses such as global online certifications by Prof David Simchi-Levi (MIT), Prof Dmitry Ivanov (Berlin School of Economics and Law), and others have strengthened academic inputs and improved placement outcomes,” he says.

IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K) witnessed a marked improvement as compared to 2024 placement cycle. Prof Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM-K, says, “This year, IIM-K implemented new strategies. Industry connections were strengthened through several corporate visits, engagements through live projects, campus leadership talks, networking further with a strong IIM-K alumni base leading to positive outcomes. We interacted with various recruiters, discussing the batch profile. Our aim was to invite more recruiters, and this year, we saw an increase in recruiter visits.”

Demand for strategic expertise
There has been a noticeable positive trend in compensation in investment banking, private equity, general management and consultancy. IT and analytics companies have also significantly increased their hiring for product management roles, which generally come with higher salary packages. Additionally, the number of international offers has also seen a rise. “Consulting firms have reported a 10% growth in CTC across the board. The strategy consulting sector emerged as the top hiring sector. This growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for strategic expertise and advisory services as businesses navigate complex market conditions and aim for sustainable growth,” says Prof Chatterjee.

The institute has also revamped its curriculum to embed emerging technologies through interdisciplinary offerings in sustainable business and behavioural economics. “Our MBA curriculum now integrates cutting-edge areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, business analytics, and digital transformation. These are embedded into core courses and specialised modules, allowing students to explore how these technologies intersect with strategy, finance, marketing, and operations. With a focus on adaptive thinking and responsible leadership, we also have new interdisciplinary courses on sustainable business, design thinking, and behavioural economics to make our graduates future-ready,” adds Prof Chatterjee.

As India eyes a $5 trillion economy, educational institutions are aiming to make graduates skilful to meet the changing needs of the job market. Emphasising India’s economic trajectory, Bhimaraya Metri, director, IIM Nagpur, says, “India’s growth from a $1 trillion economy in 2007, to $4 trillion in 2023 is a key reason why domestic hiring remains strong despite global uncertainties. Currently, India is not mirroring the West, it is charting its own growth story which is good for placements.”

IIM Nagpur secured several international offers, particularly from Singapore-based companies, including Microsoft. “Many first-time recruiters participated in the process which reflected expanding opportunities across sectors. While traditional sectors like FMCG and IT consulting witnessed some fluctuation in hiring patterns, IT firms reflected a strong comeback.”