IIT mulls action against Flipkart for deferring joining dates

Students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay are unhappy with the decision of e-commerce giant Flipkart to defer the joining dates of IIT-B recruits by six months. The placement cell of IIT-B has said that the premier institution may take punitive measures against Flipkart by taking away its Day One employer status after the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, pulled up the e-commerce giant for delaying taking on recruits by six months. Flipkart has in a statement on its website said that the decision to defer the joining date from June to December 2016 is due to internal restructuring and is in the best interests of the trainee recruits.

A final year IIT-B student said, “Flipkart is one of the top choices amongst students due to the handsome packages being offered by them. However, the delay in joining will be a major hurdle in their aspirations and could result in immense loses to those who secured a job with Flipkart. It is an unprofessional approach by the company,” said the student. Flipkart recruited seven IITians during the first round of campus placements that were held in December 2015.

Sources in the placement cell of the IIT-B said that the All-IITs Placement Committee that consisted of placement heads of all IITs had taken serious note of Flipkart’s move. “One of the AIPC members has stated that Flipkart’s Day One slot at IITs will surely be affected. Though the next AIPC meeting was scheduled close to the placement rounds that will start in December, after this development there could be a meeting to decide on the issue,” said a member of the placement cell at IIT-B.

Flipkart got the ‘Day One’ slot at most IITs during campus placements along with Microsoft and Google. Flipkart has compensated the IIM-A recruits with Rs 1.5 lakh and the IIT placement cell feels their recruits could get similar offer.