New Delhi: After rattling the financial markets, the subprime woes may soon inflict a blow on the job arena as a downward pressure on bottom-lines is making a host of big-ticket employers cautious about their hiring plans.

While companies like Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, who have been among the biggest sufferers of the subprime crisis in the US, have gone to the extent of cutting down on their huge headcounts, a number of global financial services firms have softened their hiring plans both in India and abroad.

There may be an impact of the overseas subprime lending crisis on the job market here, but it would not be a typical courtroom verdict, leading executive search firm Manpower India Managing Director Naresh Malhan told PTI.

Placement scenario in India could see a slowdown due to the US subprime crisis, as those employers, having taken a hit on their bottomlines, would like to adopt a wait and watch policy, he noted.

Investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Barclays and Deutche Bank were among the top recruiters of IIM graduates from India till last year. But in the recent placement season, campus hirings made by these firms have not matched to the previous years.

However, IIMs on their part have been mostly maintaining that their campus placements have remained unaffected by the subprime crisis and fears about recession in the US economy.

"Our main concern this year was the subprime crisis. We are relieved that this has not affected the placement at all and the average salary offered has been about 30 per cent more in comparison to last year," IIM-Ahmedabad Director Sameer Barua said after one of its student bagged the highest salary package of Rs 1.44 crore.
Source : PTI