SPJIMR closes placements on a high in a challenging year

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's SPJIMR on Friday announced the successful completion of placements for its PGDM Class of 2021 in a record time of two days with enthusiastic corporate participation, signing off a season of unprecedented challenges brought by the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic.

The placement performance in terms of average salaries offered, the number of participating companies and the speed with which the offers rolled out reflected the goodwill of SPJIMR, the institute's deep and lasting relationships with the corporate sector and the strong value that MBA participants bring to the companies they work for. It also highlighted the adaptability and the resilience of the institute and in particular of the students, who are ready to take up challenging roles and deliver on business goals with social sensitivity.

Consulting emerged this year as the top recruiting sector with offers rolled out to 36 per cent of the batch of 233 participants. This built on a trend of increased offers from management and technology consulting companies seen last year and indicated a preference for participants from SPJIMR's PGDM programme.    

The entire placements exercise, which normally sees the campus covered in a flurry of business suits as company executives interview participants, was conducted online using a variety of platforms and protocols to meet the convenience and security needs of companies. 

This was the first time the final placements process was conducted online, building on the experiences of participants using online platforms for the autumns internships. Students, faculty and businesses have not met physically since the lockdown forced by the pandemic took effect in March last year. 

The average annual salary (cost-to-company) this year stands at INR 25.86 lakhs per annum. This is similar to the levels reported last year. The median annual salary came in at INR 25 lakhs per annum, with over 26 percent of the batch securing offers in excess of INR 30 lakhs per annum, and over 80 percent in excess of INR 20 lakhs per annum.

Consulting companies rolled out offers to 84 students, the highest ever reported by SPJIMR for a batch. The participant companies included Accenture Strategy, Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte USI, EY, GEP, KPMG and PwC US Advisory among others. 

The FMCG sector continued to be a major recruiter, making offers to close to 18 per cent of the batch. Top recruiters in this sector included Asian Paints, Colgate-Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever, L'Oréal, Marico, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble and RB. 

This was closely followed by offers in the BFSI and E-commerce sectors that saw companies like Amazon, American Express, Axis Capital, Barclays, Citibank, Flipkart, Nomura, PayTM and Grofers (among others) participating in the process. 

General Management roles were offered by leading recruiters like Capgemini ELITE, Mahindra GMC, RPG and Tata Administrative Services.

In addition to the regular recruiters from SPJIMR, close to 75 new companies from diverse sectors added to the breadth of the process this year. As a result, the total number of companies in the process this year stood at 131, up from 122 last year. 

Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, around 50 per cent of the batch bagged PPO/PPI opportunities through the autumns internship and corporate competitions with leading corporates like Amazon, Boston Consulting Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Tata Administrative Services among others. 

The large number of offers in a year marked by dramatic changes in the business environment indicated high levels of trust in the unique SPJIMR model of autumns internship. Under this, participants take to autumns internships typically in Sep-Oct after the completion of their specialisation courses, making them more business ready.

Prof. Renuka Kamath, Associate Dean - Academic Services & External Relations, said, "The strongest institutions are those in which the community comes together in difficult times. Our corporate partners, alumni, faculty and staff have come together to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students. Our students have demonstrated resilience and character. The entire SPJIMR community deserves credit." 

Prof. Sajeev A. George, Chairperson PGDM, said, "It is hugely satisfying to see a stellar placement performance during these difficult times. The teamwork and dedication of our faculty, staff and students have helped us to achieve this commendable feat. We shall stay focused to further enhance the rigour and relevance of our curriculum, as per the needs of the changing times."

Prof. Abbasali Gabula, Associate Director - External Relations, said, "What looked like a particularly difficult season harking back to the times of the global financial crisis has ended on a high. Despite the extremely challenging environment, we have maintained compensation at the levels achieved last year. This was a result of more effort, preparation and speedy adjustment to the online mode. Our students supported by faculty have worked well to respond to the new environment. The response indicates that corporate India is well on its way to getting back to business in full swing."  

A brief on the companies visiting:

Consulting/ IT Consulting

This year witnessed a steady spike in offers made by recruiters in consulting, the domain becoming the top recruiter with over 36 per cent of the batch finding opportunities. Deloitte USI and PwC US Advisory made the maximum number of offers. The domain also saw participation from other industry leaders that included Accenture Strategy, Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, EY GDS, GEP, IBM Consulting, Infosys Consulting and KPMG among others. 

FMCG

SPJIMR maintained its niche in the FMCG sector. Over 40 offers were made by industry giants like Asian Paints, Colgate-Palmolive, General Mills, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Marico, Mondelez, Nestle, Pidilite, Procter & Gamble and RB. This was further strengthened by new recruiters like Himalaya and recruiters like GSK Consumer Health returning to join the process, resulting in over 18 per cent of the batch placed with the sector. They offered roles across Sales & Marketing, Systems, Corporate Finance and Supply Chain Operations.

BFSI

SPJIMR witnessed the participation of international financial service firms, such as American Express, Barclays, Citi, HSBC, along with home grown giants like Bajaj Finserv, IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank, PayTM and Yes Bank rolling out about 30 offers. Investment Banks such as Axis Capital, Jefferies and Nomura, and Investment Management and Asset Management firms such as DE Shaw and ICICI Prudential AMC also participated in the process. 

E-commerce

The boom in the e-commerce industry brought in close to 30 offers for the batch, made by industry leaders like Amazon, Cloudtail, Flipkart, Go-MMT, Grofers and Prione. Recruiters in this space offered a surfeit of new roles giving the participants myriad of options to choose from.

General Management and Leadership roles

General Management and Leadership positions offer cross-domain exposure to enable candidates grow into leadership roles. This year, conglomerates like Amazon, Capgemini ELITE, Godrej, Mahindra GMC and Tata Administrative Services are among the top recruiters in this category, rolling out 27 offers.

PGDM Class of 2021 Placements - An Overview

• Participants in the Batch: 233
• Number of companies participating: 131
• Number of first-time recruiters: 75
• Total Number of Pre-Placement Offers: 79
• Median Salary: 25.00 LPA
• Average Salary: 25.86 LPA
• Highest Salary: 44.00 LPA
• Lowest Salary: 15.00 LPA

Key Highlights: 

• 26.2% of offers equal to or greater than INR 30 LPA
• 57% of offers equal to or greater than INR 25 LPA
• 80.7% of offers equal to or greater than INR 20 LPA
• 92.3% of offers equal to or greater than INR 18 LPA

Autumns Internship Highlights: 

• Number of companies: 88
• Number of new companies: 61
• Average Stipend: INR 201,000
• Maximum Stipend: INR 320,000

About SPJIMR 

Bhavan's S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) (http://www.spjimr.org) is a constituent of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and is ranked among the top ten business schools in India. As a premier school of management, SPJIMR is noted for pedagogic innovations and pioneering programmes, which have helped the Institute stand out for its unique and distinctive path in management education. SPJIMR's mission is to 'influence practice' and 'promote value-based growth'. The Institute currently operates from its 45-acre campus in Andheri, Mumbai, and a campus in New Delhi. To avoid confusing us with any other institution, look for the five strokes logo and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan association.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1282230/SPJIMR_Logo

Media Contact:
Mr. Abbasali Gabula
[email protected]
+91-9821362495
Associate Director, External Relations
S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research