IITians turn to EU, Japan, other countries due to America’s protectionist stance

After American dreams of quite a few students of IIT(Indian Institute of technology) who got job offers from the top software companies in the US in December 2016 are yet to see the light of the day, some of its graduates are now settling for lesser-paying jobs in countries of Europe, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Singapore.

 

As the US visa policy is currently being reviewed, many on IIT campuses have become apprehensive of the US offers in the approaching placement season.

 

It is said that the number of US job offers had anyway declined to single digits at the prominent Indian IITs in December 2016 after Donald Trump took over as the US President. IIT Placement cells have now started looking at countries other than the US for international job placements.

 

Only a few of the IIT graduates who landed jobs in 2016 have relocated to the US. On the other hand, the remaining have joined the IT behemoths India offices or are getting alternative offers abroad. In fact, Microsoft has offered positions in Canada to these students. An IIT-Bombay graduate was quoted by The Times of India as saying that these students were waiting eagerly to join their positions at the IT major’s Canadian office soon. In case of other jobs, although the pay packages maybe lower, they are renowned companies, and they have also promised to move these students to American locations after a year or two, the graduate said.

 

An IIT-Bombay computer science and engineering student said that the US jobs still remain attractive for students, but a lot of them are opting to work for a year or two and then want to shift to the US to pursue higher studies. The job location does not matter to the students if they have to wait for more than a year to obtain a US visa, said the student. Students with such views would choose opportunities in India itself, as obtaining student visas is not as difficult as securing H-1B visas is now, the student added.

 

Older IITs, which are not averse to welcoming US firms, are, however, walking a tightrope so that students do not get affected.

 

A student from one of the older IITs, who had secured a US job quit it and joined another company after his visa application got rejected.

 

His fellow student said that he was asked to work in the Bengaluru office instead. He added that everybody, the companies included, are being cautious about the visa policy that the US would adopt.

 

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