Salaries rebound at top campuses: MBA, BTech offers up after 2024 slump
Agencies
Synopsis
After a stagnant 2024, campus hiring is showing signs of recovery with rising salary offers, particularly for MBAs and BTech graduates. The Deloitte report indicates median salaries are expected to increase, driven by pent-up demand and skill-based recruitment. Sectors like private equity and renewable energy are fueling this growth, with variable pay becoming a standard feature in compensation packages.
By Prachi Verma, ET Bureau
Last Updated:
The Class of 2025 has higher salary offers across top campuses after a flat 2024, signalling a pickup in hiring activity, according to the Deloitte Campus Workforce Trends: Placement Cycle 2025 report, which analysed placements across 508 institutions.
The report attributes the uptick to pent-up demand after last year’s muted hiring, sharper skill-based recruitment, and attrition backfill.
He highlighted a significant rise in the variable pay component, particularly in consulting and finance roles, which reflects performance-linked structures and sector-specific demand.
IIM Ahmedabad, the country’s leading management institute, is in the process of consolidating data from the previous placement cycle audited, its placement committee chairperson Viswanath Pingali said. “Informal data analysis suggests there is a small increment in the salaries. It is the general trend," he said.
National Institute of Technology (NIT) Jalandhar saw significant improvement both in the number of students placed and salary packages, its director Binod Kumar Kanaujia said. Total placements rose 15% to 1,005 in 2025, from 873 in 2024, “while the most significant hike was seen in the Rs 40-50+ lakh per annum range, which jumped from 13 students in 2024, to 24 in 2025,” he said.
This is the 5th edition of Deloitte Campus Workforce Trends, which also surveyed 238 organisations across industries. “Engineering degrees are leading YoY compensation growth (4.65%), outpacing the management degrees (2.19%),” said Neelesh Gupta, partner at Deloitte India.
BTech students continue to draw the highest pay packages, followed by Bachelor of Law and BBA students.
“The technology sector is the most preferred industry by students for the fifth year in a row,” Gupta said.
Highest compensation growth vis-à-vis last year was in manufacturing, followed by the consumer sector, while life sciences/pharmaceuticals trailed.
In addition, there has been a 24% increase in pre-placement offer conversions across all degrees in FY25 vis-à-vis FY24.
For MBAs, the top two roles are management consultant and product manager; for BTechs, they are development engineer and data scientist, and for CAs, audit manager/internal audit and management accountant, among others.
Organisations are increasingly leveraging retention bonuses to boost early tenure among campus hires. “Positioned as a ‘stay incentive’, these payouts are designed to anchor fresh talent through the critical first year,” Gupta said.
Campus attrition has declined by 3% on-year in 2025 across all streams, with the sharpest drop seen in one-year attrition among MBA graduates, Gupta said.
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Median salaries for MBAs and BTechs are expected to rise 8.3% and 4.3% year-on-year, respectively, after declining 9% and 0.1% in 2024.The report attributes the uptick to pent-up demand after last year’s muted hiring, sharper skill-based recruitment, and attrition backfill.
Rise in Variable Pay
Campuses confirmed the trend. “Average salary has risen, and this growth is largely driven by expanding opportunities in high-growth sectors such as private equity, renewable energy and healthcare,” Himanshu Rai, director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore, told ET.He highlighted a significant rise in the variable pay component, particularly in consulting and finance roles, which reflects performance-linked structures and sector-specific demand.
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IIM Ahmedabad, the country’s leading management institute, is in the process of consolidating data from the previous placement cycle audited, its placement committee chairperson Viswanath Pingali said. “Informal data analysis suggests there is a small increment in the salaries. It is the general trend," he said.
National Institute of Technology (NIT) Jalandhar saw significant improvement both in the number of students placed and salary packages, its director Binod Kumar Kanaujia said. Total placements rose 15% to 1,005 in 2025, from 873 in 2024, “while the most significant hike was seen in the Rs 40-50+ lakh per annum range, which jumped from 13 students in 2024, to 24 in 2025,” he said.
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This is the 5th edition of Deloitte Campus Workforce Trends, which also surveyed 238 organisations across industries. “Engineering degrees are leading YoY compensation growth (4.65%), outpacing the management degrees (2.19%),” said Neelesh Gupta, partner at Deloitte India.
BTech students continue to draw the highest pay packages, followed by Bachelor of Law and BBA students.
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“The technology sector is the most preferred industry by students for the fifth year in a row,” Gupta said.
Highest compensation growth vis-à-vis last year was in manufacturing, followed by the consumer sector, while life sciences/pharmaceuticals trailed.
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The variable pay component, referred to as ‘pay at risk’, has become a default feature at the campus hiring level. “97% of organisations have implemented short-term incentive programmes or bonus or performance-linked incentives,” the Deloitte study said.In addition, there has been a 24% increase in pre-placement offer conversions across all degrees in FY25 vis-à-vis FY24.
For MBAs, the top two roles are management consultant and product manager; for BTechs, they are development engineer and data scientist, and for CAs, audit manager/internal audit and management accountant, among others.
Organisations are increasingly leveraging retention bonuses to boost early tenure among campus hires. “Positioned as a ‘stay incentive’, these payouts are designed to anchor fresh talent through the critical first year,” Gupta said.Campus attrition has declined by 3% on-year in 2025 across all streams, with the sharpest drop seen in one-year attrition among MBA graduates, Gupta said.
