# Campus talent shuns risk, sales roles for glamour jobs 2026-08-19T21:03:49+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's campus hiring is seeing a mismatch as students flock to high-paying roles in investment banking, equity research and consulting, leaving positions in risk management, compliance, operations and manufacturing understaffed. Placement officials at top institutes like IIM Ahmedabad say students prioritise compensation and long-term career prospects, with fees of up to Rs 28 lakh at older IIMs reinforcing the trend. Median compensation at IIMs has risen 25-40% since 2020, but firms say geopolitical uncertainty is making them cautious about hiring plans. Industry leaders including Edelweiss Mutual Fund CEO Radhika Gupta and Mahindra Manulife CEO Anthony Heredia note that roles in equity research and fund management enjoy a 'glamour' tag, while the bulk of jobs in sales, technology, risk and compliance remain less visible. Gupta urged students to look at areas like private debt, real assets, AIF and risk management where demand is likely to grow over the next 15-20 years with less competition. PwC India's Suchindra Kumar said students often choose streams based on an illusion of lifestyle rather than actual career knowledge. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The core issue is a supply-demand skew in India's professional workforce: a handful of high-visibility careers absorb a disproportionate share of top engineering and management graduates, while essential but less glamorous functions struggle to fill roles. This is not new, consulting and finance have long drawn the brightest, but the gap may widen as the economy grows and requires more specialists in compliance, risk and operations. The next signal to watch is whether placement data for the 2026 batch shows a shift in preferences or if companies start offering differentiated pay for less popular roles. ## Coverage - livemint.com Straightforward reporting of campus hiring trends with quotes from multiple industry voices, no slant. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Edelweiss Mutual Fund, IIM Ahmedabad, IIT, Mahindra Manulife Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/campus-talent-shuns-risk-sales-roles-for-glamour-jobs/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/campus-talent-shuns-risk-sales-roles-for-glamour-jobs/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/