2021 pass-outs struggle for job opportunities as firms look the other way

M Sharmila Bebi of Red Hills, who recently completed BSC Computer Science from a government college in North Chennai, said while applying for bank jobs and in the IT sector through online portals, her application is not getting accepted. “Initially, I applied on online job portals. The response I received from most of the firms was that the ‘2021 batch is not eligible’. However, there were some newspaper advertisements and I applied. I also got interview calls from a couple of IT companies, but one of them asked me to do an internship for six months and pay them Rs 20,000 for the same.”

She said her batchmates too, once selected for any banking job, were asked to do certificate courses in specific areas despite having learnt those topics in college. “Citing this need for a bridge course due to lack of touch with the industry, we have joined a nearby trust where they take computer classes for free,” Bebi said.

Some of these students, failing to grab any job, are now working for export companies or even selling vegetables with their parents. “We have been getting job calls for telemarketing at matrimonial sites, where the salary is only Rs 8,000 per month. We have witnessed many of our batchmates working as telemarketers to support their families financially, and some have stopped looking out for jobs in the banks and IT sectors and even started going for tailoring jobs and household work. Even our parents are not supportive because we are spending more money for travel alone to attend interviews,” said J Priya, a resident of Vyasarpadi, who completed BSC Computer Science this year.

Even the placement consultancies in the city are in a dilemma in recruiting the 2021 batch students because they are not sure whether these students’ productivity will be equal to others.

“The online format of education is unconventional. We are unsure if their productivity will be equal to those who have been studying offline. A lot of people were marked pass without a written examination, so we don’t know how to judge the performance of these candidates,” said Onxy, a city-based HR professional.

However, a few private companies are willing to give a chance to the freshers by recruiting them without any restrictions. “So far, we have not received any application from this batch. Once they apply, we don’t have any restrictions in hiring them. We are willing to recruit them and see their work productivity,” said R Hanitha, another HR professional.