Where will the jobs come from? was the question that was doing the rounds of b-schools when news of the economic slowdown came through. Public Sector Units (PSUs) proved to be the saviors of the day and provided the answer. However, the economic slowdown has put some roadblocks in the paths of PSUs also. Faculty at Indian b-schools are taking things in their stride but with the slow recovery of the private sector, the performance of PSUs will be a concern for the b-school fraternity.

A lot of prominent b-schools saw PSUs picking up 15 percent or more of the batch. Private sector companies were forced to give a miss to b-school placements or recruit in lesser numbers. The jobs crunch helped PSUs get quality students at lower salary levels while b-schools were able to secure jobs for their students. However, PSUs too are not immune to the problems of the economy. PSUs are facing problems with finances and some prominent units such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are accused of faulty incentive schemes.

There has been a reduction in the profit levels at PSUs and this will create problems in expansion and start of new projects. The government has also planned to retain a 51 percent stake in PSUs while releasing the remaining percentage to the public.

B-school faculty believe that MBA graduates will not be affected by these developments because public sector banks have been the primary recruiters at institutes whereas PSUs from other sectors are mainly involved in these issues. Amrish Sharma, placements officer at the International Management Institute, Delhi (IMI) has a positive attitude towards disinvestment and says, Opportunities will increase if a private player is involved in PSU operations. He adds, PSUs which are running in losses did not recruit from business schools.

This placements season did see b-schoolers compromising on salaries so that they could take up campus placements. It will be interesting to see if PSUs return in full strength in next years placements or if public sector banks get affected and they are unable to recruit b-schoolers. If the second case were to happen and private sector hiring does not return to what it was in boom times then b-schools will face even more difficulties in placing all students. As Munish Bharagva, Placements chairperson at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Delhi says, Were keeping our fingers crossed. The first quarter results have not been good. Well have to wait and see how things turn out in next years placements.