New recruiters reshape IIM placements as niche sectors gain ground

The placement season for the Class of 2026 in most Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) is nearly over. While most of these B-schools depended on the usual consulting and banking firms to shore up a lion’s share of hiring, many non-traditional recruiters have come to the fore this year, racking up attractive placement offers for the students.Sectors like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, energy distribution, D2C travel brands, and new-age consumer brands have seen increased participation. The new entrants in the recruitment race are AI-native firms, which made a formal campus appearance for the first time with defined roles in AI consulting and AI delivery.Interestingly, sectors like non-fungible tokens and luxury reselling have also seen an increase in hiring numbers by nearly 30-40 percent, whereas fintech and digital banking have increased recruitment by 25-30 percent. Sectors like biohacking and personalised healthcare have also seen a spurt in hiring numbers.At IIM Bangalore, 35 percent of the companies were new recruiters. At IIM Lucknow, first-time recruiters like boAt, Darwinbox, Dezerv, HiLabs, and Uber made compelling offers. Firms like Berger, Cargill, and Niva Bupa Health Insurance were among the new recruiters at IIM Calcutta.Rajeev Verma, chairperson, corporate relations, IIM Ranchi, says that energy, pharma, and cybersecurity also experienced a surge in hiring. “These are sectors that had traditionally been minor players in recruiting, reflecting their growing appetite for management talent. Offers from RE firms and EV players grew 100 percent, and core manufacturing and infrastructure rose by 33 percent,” he says.A number of factors are driving these hiring trends among non-traditional recruiters. The main reason, according to placement teams, is the diverse curriculum offered in these institutes. “The academic diversity allows firms with varied functional requirements to find targeted fits within a single campus visit,” says Manoj Tiwari, director, IIM Mumbai.Vinita Sahay from IIM Bodh Gaya says 70 new recruiters joined the placement season this time. “The institute offers specialised MBA programmes in Digital Business and AI, and Hospital and Healthcare Management, which focus on sector-specific needs,” she says.Some believe that the shift is also because of evolving industry needs and the broader transformation in the business landscape. “Sectors like edtech, healthcare and pharma are expanding rapidly and becoming increasingly data-driven and strategy-oriented, driving greater demand for talent from B-schools,” says Himanshu Rai, director at IIM Indore.The offers by these firms are also in a similar median range to those provided by other regular recruiters. At IIM Mumbai, these non-traditional recruiters offered a median pay of Rs 35 lakh. “Emerging recruiters are pricing their offers on similar lines as established recruiters, competing directly with top-tier firms rather than positioning themselves as lower-cost alternatives,” says Tiwari.Students in most of these B-schools are also lapping up these offers. In some cases, though, there remains some apprehension. A student, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says many students were apprehensive about taking on these jobs and would prefer roles at a Big Four consulting firm or one of the Big Tech firms.“Honestly, it’s a matter of perspective. It’s just the way we associate IIMs with. You want to get into an IIM to join one of these companies. But the alternatives aren’t that bad. It’s about time our perspectives also change.”Some of these students also ended up joining these firms because of current geopolitical issues, but B-schools say the hiring has remained limited in absolute numbers this year and will, in all probability, reflect in the numbers next year.Tiwari highlights that domestic firms hired irrespective of global headwinds. “We had firms like Reliance, Vedanta, Pidilite, PFC, ICICI Bank, among others, accounting for a significant share of the offers. The current cycle demonstrates the underlying strength of domestic hiring,” he tells Forbes India.Sahay says that IIM Bodh Gaya saw its first set of hiring from firms in Dubai, where onboarding might happen in April. “We also conducted processes for firms based in Malaysia, Switzerland, and also explored opportunities in African countries,” she says.While geopolitical headwinds continue to blow, some of these new-age recruiters continue offering a career canvas to students that is on a par with legacy recruiters in some of India’s leading B-schools.

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