The final placements are scheduled to happen in February and early March, when the bulk of IIM grads without prior work experience will be hired. And most employers often visit campuses twice in a year to pick candidates from both buckets.

Employers such as Wipro, ICICI Bank, Aditya Birla Group, Deloitte, Amazon, Cognizant, Capgemini, Union Bank, HPCL and BPCL are among the top companies which are regulars at IIMs during lateral placement season. And this time, the sectors such as IT, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and FGMC (First Guaranty Mortgage Corp) were the top recruiters.

As per the sources from IIMs, this time, the number of offers made in lateral placements at IIMs across pan India is on par with the previous year and the increase in salaries is marginal, within 5 to 10 percent range. This trend offers a clear sign on how the rest of the placement season will unfold.