Simplilearn has deferred campus placement offers by six months citing “unavoidable business circumstances.”

Curefit and upGrad have also deferred campus placement offers this year, amid the ongoing funding slowdown.

According to multiple social media posts by students of Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) Mesra, Simplilearn's 25 hired candidates were initially supposed to join in July- August 2022. This date was first extended by almost two months and then later, a delay of another 4 months was communicated.

Emails sent

The first two months delay in joining dates was attributed to the fact that Simplilearn was in the middle of launching a new product. “Our tech and product teams are fully involved in project delivery. We foresee that it will be very difficult for them to spare time and induct you in the system without compromising the quality of induction. Therefore, we regret to inform you that we have to delay your joining by a month or two ,” the company told candidates in an email sent on July 9.

This was later followed by another email earlier this week, stating that the joining dates have now been deferred to January 2023, “considering unavoidable business circumstances.”

“Please note the joining is only deferred and not cancelled or revoked. Additionally, we have some exciting roles open like product innovation, marketing, sales, etc. If your are interested in exploring open roles, please reach out to us. Please be advised that there will be 1-2 rounds of interview for such roles,” the company added in its latest email.

Deferred, not cancelled

The affected candidates have now taken to social media to express their distress. Some candidates said they have declined multiple offers to accept a position at Simplilearn and are now left with no opportunity.

Responding to queries, a Simplilearn spokesperson said, “Every year, we hire from campuses and let them join through the year. This year for some of our hires, we have extended the joining date for a couple of months to align with our internal plans. The joining date has only been deferred, not cancelled or revoked. The same has also been officially communicated to all of them. In the meantime, to help them best utilize their time, we have given them free access to some of our top technology programs to upskill. We are committed to upholding the promise we made to campus hires and looking forward to welcoming them into our family.”

ALSO READ: Start-ups pull back, defer job offers made at campuses

Other deferred campus placements

Simplilearn is not the first startup to defer campus placement offers. In June 2022, several graduates from top-tier institutions, such as IIT, Kanpur and Delhi Technological University, have put up social-media posts stating Curefit has deferred campus placement offers by six months.

Most college placement drives got completed between October and February when the investor sentiment towards startups was still at a record high. But, with funding momentum slowing down due to the market downturn, recruitment offers for sales, marketing, and technology roles have been majorly impacted, according to an industry source who works closely with educational institutions.

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