Despite the global economic slowdown, emerging technologies are in demand. The COVID-19 imposed restricts and challenges have, in fact, exacerbated the demand for them, creating an increased demand for students who have the know-how of these technologies. 

IITs and other top engineering colleges report how companies are actively seeking students who have expertise in data science, machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, blockchain, and design thinking.

“Emerging technologies are growing at a fast pace and so do human resources requirements in these fields. This year, placements for students with a profile in emerging technologies have been better than last year,” said Pradeep Kumar Yemula, faculty-in-charge, office of career services at IIT, Hyderabad (IIT-H).

A few institutes have already surpassed last year's total number of offers in emerging technologies. For example, IIT Guwahati received 23 offers for emerging technologies with average salaries of Rs 24.2 lakh; this is while phase 2 of recruitment being underway currently. Last year, the college had had total of 21 offers for emerging technologies. 

C S Shankar Ram, advisor (training & placement), IIT Madras, said, “Phase 1 placements at IIT Madras went on well with good participation from companies in the AI/ML/data science sector. We expect this trend of active participation from companies in this sector to continue in the next few years.”