COVID-19 – Impact on Industrial Growth

COVID-19, the pandemic that proved to be deadlier and more destructive than our initial assessment, brought the world to a standstill and gave us indelible scars, both personal as well as economical. More than half of the world’s population got affected one way or the other. It caused havoc globally, causing countries to adopt lockdown so as to mitigate the effects of the prevailing pandemic and control its spread. It had very deep impacts on the economic front and we can still see its aftereffects even when it has been declared to be controlled. The loss of livelihoods, loss of opportunities to excel, loss of infrastructure; the list is endless.

On the economic front, In the light of rising concerns about the COVID-19 spread, many companies had put hold on their placement process citing numerous reasons.. Colleges in India were anticipating a tough year ahead due to unavoidable disruptions in their campus recruitment cycle as the pandemic affects business concerns throughout the world. Generally, most business and engineering schools conduct campus placements between September and April every year. Though many students have got offer letters already, there are still a lot who are struggling to find a proper job offer.

Due to the prolonged lockdown during the pandemic, few companies are renegading on  the offers they had made and some are having second thoughts  . We can’t blame these companies as their actions are a mere reaction to the cues shown by the recession and the negative market. Still, we are seeing a positive trend too as some companies are honouring the offers made to students and won’t deduct any salary. This is a huge relief as these companies are focusing on long-term gains rather than having a short sighted approach.

Many MNCs  like Infosys, TCS, Google, Wipro, Capgemini, Tech Mahindra, Accenture, PepsiCo, PayU are honouring their job offers made to campus hires despite  weak revenue outlook caused by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. With continuous vigilance using cutting-edge technologies,  higher ranked managers are keeping a close look on the developments in the concerned sectors. These innovative methods have made life easier for the managers as well as employees.

Other than technology companies, FMCG majors like Godrej, Pepsi-Co, Biocon, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), consultancy firms Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain & Company, and McKinsey, and banks like ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, etc are also honouring their job offers.

Cognizant will bring on-board 20,000 freshers this fiscal. However, the company said that the on- boarding dates will depend on various factors, including the actual completion of the academic programme and the business impact of the lockdown.

A number of global companies with a large presence in India had assured employees that there would be no or insignificant layoffs while the lockdown continued. Some like Morgan Stanley, Salesforce, Palo Alto Networks, PayPal,etc. had taken a 90 day no lay-off pledge while some had put a stop to all layoffs for this year.

The banking sector, insurance sector,  retail sector, logistics, etc. are likely to see delay in the offers they have made to the graduates during campus hiring. We will see a rise in dependency on technology for various activities as well as in boosting productivity.

With pertinent lockdown and closure of international boundaries, MNCs are finding it tough to fulfill their hiring objectives and we are seeing a rise in revoking of offers as well as delay in joining. This includes giants like Schlumberger,  Petrofac, etc.

Thus, it is evident that the pandemic had affected us not only personally and socially but financially also. The long-term impacts of this pandemic will be felt in the coming year too when the economy and the companies will try to seek ‘correction’ in their performances.

Mr. Rohit Pandey(Head-Training & Placement)
GNIOT Group of Institutions

GNIOT Group Of Institutions, Greater Noida
Top Engineering Colleges in Greater Noida
Website: www.gniotgroup.edu.in
Email: admission@gniot.net.in , gniot@gniot.net.in
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