A recent talent report has revealed that 83% of engineering students graduated without a job or internship offer. This figure is almost 50% among students from the country’s B-schools.

The report, brought out by Unstop — a leading talent attraction, assessment, and hiring platform for students and graduates — also revealed that one in four graduates completed unpaid internships last year, up from one in eight in 2023. This indicates that more students are seeking industry experience, even if it means doing so without pay.

This shows that a significant portion of engineering and MBA graduates are struggling to secure job or internship offers.

The findings of the Unstop report are based on a survey of 30,000 Gen Z professionals and 700 HR leaders. The report was released during the annual Talent Meet held by the platform in Bangalore on Friday.

Over half of the surveyed MBA graduates focus on having multiple income streams with freelancing as the biggest side hustle.

A striking observation from the study reveals that, while arts graduates experience minimal pay parity between genders, there is substantial parity among engineering and MBA graduates. This suggests that diversity hiring practices more prevalent particularly within IT and services companies, has improved gender equality in compensation in these companies.

While one might assume that the high unemployment rates among engineering graduates are due to the skewed enrollment in premier institutes, the report shows that the importance of premier institute tags has become increasingly irrelevant to recruiters. Nearly 73% of recruiters now prioritise talent-based hiring over the prestige of a graduate’s college, suggesting a shift towards valuing skills and potential over institutional affiliation.

Despite this shift, one in four job offers came from next-gen industries such as e-commerce, startups, and product-centric companies.