Mumbai: The recession in IT seems to have been having a roundabout effect. Just when you thought the only sufferers were the employees who have been given pink slips, IITs too have started feeling the brunt of it. The dip in the IIT campus recruitment figures of major Indian and foreign IT firms have just fuelled the concerns over the industry slowdown, reported Business Standard.

While hiring by India's major IT services providers TCS, Wipro and Infosys substantially dropped, firms like IBM, HCL, Hughes Software and CSC just opted out of placements this year.

"While many companies say they have a particular number in mind and would recruit likewise, our alumni network at these companies informs us that these IT giants are exercising restraint in recruiting trainees due to a slowdown," said a placement official from IIT Roorkee.

Recruitment by IT companies at IIT Kanpur has gone down from 130 students in 2007 to 72 in 2008.

A placement official from IIT Kanpur agreed to the fact and said, "Like every year, the institute offered the regular number of students to these IT companies for placements but they did not pick as many students."

"Clients from IT firms are increasingly in the process of utilizing their bench strength," said Monisha Advani, managing director, Randstad India, an HR consultancy firm.

The slowdown in the U.S. and appreciating rupee has resulted in a tremendous pressure for IT firms with regards to managing margins and costs. Firms like TCS, IBM and Yahoo! have already been in the news for asking several hundreds of employees to leave on grounds of "poor performance or non-performance".

Companies, however, are stating the excuse that with the boom in other sectors like investment banking and retail, and the urge to be entrepreneurs, IT firms are left with little option but to reduce their hiring from these institutes.

"Most students from IITs either want to get into hardcore research or prefer to go in for higher studies. Besides, other sectors also hire in big numbers from these institutes," says an executive from Wipro. The companies insist that they remain committed to their campus-hiring plans.