In the Indian education system, parents often believe that admission to IIT guarantees a secure future for their child. After successfully passing JEE and completing studies at IIT, students can expect good jobs and high salaries. However, in the context of the changing modern labor market, the guarantee of employment has disappeared. Students spend up to 30 lakh rupees on education and may then receive a job with a salary of only 10 thousand rupees.
This situation began sparking new discussions after a post by entrepreneur Kantasamai Balasubrahmanyam on the social network X. His company was recruiting staff, and two students who graduated with BTech from IIT Kanpur and IIT Guwahati applied for jobs. Both requested an annual income of about 1.12 crore Japanese yen, equivalent to approximately 70,000 US dollars. They posed a question that concerned many: are they truly not being offered large salary packages?
The discussion continued in subsequent posts. Eight IIT graduates who were shortlisted were working in Japan with an annual salary of around $70,000. These candidates also agreed to sign a five-year non-compete agreement, which prevented them from working at competing companies during the specified period. Balasubrahmanyam called this requirement unreasonable, suggesting that the Indian labor market is going through a downturn.
Nevertheless, two points must be considered. Firstly, the post did not specify the experience level of these candidates—they could have been freshmen or experienced engineers. Secondly, the salary they requested was not low. Converting $70,000 to rupees amounts to about 67 lakh rupees per year. Considering living and food expenses, it can be assumed that a similar salary in India might range from 35 to 50 lakh rupees annually, although this is only an approximation and not official statistics. An important aspect is the willingness of some candidates to accept a five-year contract for work abroad.
Public reaction drew attention. One user jokingly suggested that both candidates' CGPAs would be five. Balasubrahmanyam refuted this, stating that their CGPAs were 7.3 and 7.7 respectively, and that they were not among the most outstanding candidates. Another user noted that not every IIT graduate receives multi-million dollar packages. Large salaries are often discussed in the media, creating a certain image of the IIT degree, whereas the starting salary of most students can be significantly lower.
Thus, instead of labeling a student as successful or unsuccessful, it is important to understand that not all IIT graduates receive the same job or salary. There can be a significant gap between the high-profile packages highlighted in the press and the actual work of ordinary students.
It is worth noting that many families are forced to spend millions of rupees even at the stage of preparing for IIT admission. Four years of preparation for JEE can cost between 3 to 6 lakh rupees. If a student prepares in cities like Kota, living and food expenses increase. Then, four years of study at IIT can cost another 9.5 to 11 lakh rupees. Thus, the total expenditure for a student studying with local preparation can reach 15–20 lakh rupees. Furthermore, if preparation costs in another city, re-examinations, and other expenses are taken into account, the total amount can easily reach 25–30 lakh rupees.
According to the annual report of IIT Bombay for 2024–25, out of 1,422 job offers received during placements, 705 students accepted packages exceeding 20 lakh rupees, with the average CTC for these offers being around 20 lakh rupees. There were only 18 offers with a salary less than 8 lakh rupees, and 77 offers in the range of 8 to 10 lakh rupees. Students who received such salaries might earn an amount equal to several years of tuition fees. However, this is gross revenue and does not include taxes and living expenses. It should also be remembered that the report accounted for job offers, not the number of students, and since IIT Bombay is one of the leading institutions in the country, this data cannot be considered representative of all IIT students' situations.
There is no guarantee that every IIT graduate will get a high-paying job. According to responses obtained through RTI from former IIT Kanpur student Diraj Singh, by the end of the 2023–24 academic year, about 8,000 students out of 23 IITs had not found employment. This figure accounted for approximately 38 percent of the total number of students. In 2022, this number was about 3,400 people. At IIT Delhi, as of April 5, 2024, out of 1,814 registered students, 1,083 had found jobs, while 731 students still had not received offers. Some of these students might find jobs later or continue their studies.