No takers for engineers - Shocking fall in candidates appearing for JEE for second year in a row

January 19, 2016, NewsCrunch

Continuing the trend that surfaced last year, there has been a steep fall in the number of candidates registering for JEE (Main) 2016.

Compared to 2015, one lakh less candidates have registered for this elite exam this year.

The Times of India reports that CBSE has received about 12 lakh applications till last week. Last year, 13 lakh students had registered for the test.

The decline was first witnessed in 2015, when the number of candidates appearing for JEE (Main) fell by 50,000.

The fall seems to have occurred across the states. Maharashtra, which sends the most aspirants, saw their number dropping by more than a third.

Candidates seem to be losing interest in engineering as it no longer guarantees a good job. As NewsCrunch had noted lack of opportunities is forcing graduates totake up odd jobs. Indiasaw a mushrooming of engineering colleges following the IT boom, which created a huge demand for technically qualified  employees.

A decade ago, the IT industry, which was growing by 30%, was annually hiring hundreds of thousands of engineering graduates.

But after the 2008 recession, the industry growth dipped and the last big hiring of 2.5 lakh freshers was recorded in 2012.

The glut of engineering graduates in the market has made these degrees unattractive, prompting students to explore alternative careers.