Engineers are underpaid and unemployed: Is engineering obsession breaking its promise?
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No, this isn't a scripted episode of Kota Factory; this is the real Kota, a city where thousands of students arrive from every corner of the country chasing the same relentless goal.
We know too well that in India, the dream of becoming an engineer is sold as life's ultimate purpose. Land a seat at a prestigious institute, and you've supposedly secured your destiny. Engineering is not just a profession; it is seen as a status symbol, and in many regions of the country, the only acceptable career path.
But let's pull back the curtains. What lies behind the stage?
Are engineers truly living the lives they once envisioned, the lives they traded their youth and lakhs of rupees to attain? The fortified walls of the so-called 'secure' engineering career are showing deep cracks. The numbers speak for themselves. Engineers today are underpaid, underemployed, and, in many cases, unemployed. Starting salaries remain stagnant at ₹3 to ₹4 lakh per annum, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), the same figures that stood over a decade ago.
While students are often scapegoated for falling short, the deeper malaise lies in India's obsession with engineering, and in the institutions and coaching factories that mass-produce degrees while failing to deliver meaningful training or real-world readiness.
So, where did it go wrong?
Coaching centres failing to deliver
Students from all the corners of the country mushroom to the coaching centres with a fond hope of securing a coveted engineering degree.
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But what often gets overlooked is the visible disparity in the foundational education. Unlike their counterparts in Tier 1, who benefit from better infrastructure, qualified teachers, and abundant learning resources, these students arrive with systemic disadvantages that run deep.
Yet, most coaching centres adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, offering a uniform curriculum that ignores these academic disparities.
Instead of levelling the playing field, this standardised model only amplifies the divide, placing already advantaged students on a pedestal while pushing those from underserved backgrounds even further behind. The result? A system that rewards privilege and punishes potential.
Curse of obsession
India's ultimate obsession with engineering stemmed from noble intentions. It was a ticket out of poverty, a gateway to global jobs, a badge of meritocracy.
But as it is said, excess of everything is bad. But, over time, this pursuit translated into blind faith for the profession. Coaching centers were flocked, private colleges proliferated, and students with neither aptitude nor interest were funneled into engineering pipelines.
A crisis in numbers: The rise of the unemployed engineer
Between 2019 and 2024, India sanctioned 6.49 million undergraduate engineering seats, but only 4.55 million were filled, leaving 1.94 million seats vacant—a staggering 30% shortfall, according to data from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) (ThePrint).
Data speaks volumes, and it does not indicate a happy picture. Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, only 1.64 million out of 3.43 million undergraduate engineering students secured campus placements, a mere 47.7% placement rate. When extended to all levels of engineering education, diploma, UG, and PG, only 41.4% found jobs.
An uneven battlefield
Reels and memes regarding engineers' salary and growth opportunities have been ubiquitous on social media.
But it is not universal. Top-tier graduates from IITs, BITS, and select NITs are still landing jobs in FAANG companies or product-based MNCs at ₹20–30 lakh packages. But these roles are few and hyper-selective.
The camera shifts towards the students graduating from Tier 2 and 3 colleges, showing a picture of despair. While the elite are headhunted, the majority jostle for mass hiring roles with little room for negotiation.
In a nutshell: It's not an equal market. It never was.
Oversupply vs. skill deficit: What is to be blamed?
Market saturation, unskilled employees are always the best reasons to cover the situation. However, we need to peel off the layers to dig out the truth. India's engineering pipelines are not just overcrowded; it is also misaligned. A report by TeamLease notes that while 60% of engineering graduates are 'technically employable,' only 45% meet actual industry standards, and just 10% of the 1.5 million engineers graduating this year are expected to find employment
What is the reason behind the mismatch? The curriculum in the private colleges remains outdated, faculty shortages exist, and hands-on training is not provided adequately, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities.
Another major reason is that numerous students disinterested in the field fail to imbibe the related skills essential to the domain.
The human cost
The headlines may speak and the numbers may echo their truths, but at the heart of it all is a human being. A student. A teenager, barely 15 or 16, already grappling under the weight of expectations. First comes the pressure to crack the entrance to a coveted engineering college, and before the dust settles, they're thrust into yet another race, the relentless pursuit of a place in the corporate world.
For the average engineering fresher, the emotional toll is staggering. Four years of rigorous study, high parental expectations, crushing loans, and yet, a ₹25,000/month salary, delayed joining dates, or worse, no offer letter at all.
The disillusionment is seeping in. Reddit threads are flooded with stories of graduates switching to skilled trades, preparing for government exams, or abandoning engineering altogether.
The mental health crisis is real, and the loss of trust in the education-to-employment pipeline is profound.
What next?
Blaming the torn fabric and seeing through it is easy, but stitching it demands courage. India does not need fewer engineers, it needs better engineers, trained in line with global demands, equipped for emerging and evolving technologies.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 offers a silver lining with its push for multidisciplinary learning and skill integration, but the implementation remains slow and fragmented.
Industry too must step up, investing not just training but in reimagining hiring metrics beyond GPAs and rote memorisation.
Most crucially, families and students must start asking harder and essential questions: Am I prepared for what comes after the degree? It is time to shrug off the myth that engineering is the ultimate professional destiny. It is a career, one that must be chosen with clarity, not compulsion.
The great Indian engineering dream is not dead, it is breathing with wounds. It is a high time for a hard reset, and for the nation to change its lens. Because behind every 3 lakh salary and every unfulfilled dream, there is a story of misplaced ambition, systemic neglect, and a dream sold too cheaply.
Until we fix that, Kota's factories will keep producing graduates, perhaps not necessarily engineers.
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A city that brims with ambition and reeks of measured ranks, thousands of teenagers inhale a single aspiration: to crack the code of elite engineering institutions. Their eyes bear the weight of sleepless nights, their shoulders stoop under the burden of societal expectations, and their futures are pinned entirely on one unforgiving dream. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now No, this isn't a scripted episode of Kota Factory; this is the real Kota, a city where thousands of students arrive from every corner of the country chasing the same relentless goal. We know too well that in India, the dream of becoming an engineer is sold as life's ultimate purpose. Land a seat at a prestigious institute, and you've supposedly secured your destiny. Engineering is not just a profession; it is seen as a status symbol, and in many regions of the country, the only acceptable career path. But let's pull back the curtains. What lies behind the stage? Are engineers truly living the lives they once envisioned, the lives they traded their youth and lakhs of rupees to attain? The fortified walls of the so-called 'secure' engineering career are showing deep cracks. The numbers speak for themselves. Engineers today are underpaid, underemployed, and, in many cases, unemployed. Starting salaries remain stagnant at ₹3 to ₹4 lakh per annum, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), the same figures that stood over a decade ago. While students are often scapegoated for falling short, the deeper malaise lies in India's obsession with engineering, and in the institutions and coaching factories that mass-produce degrees while failing to deliver meaningful training or real-world readiness. So, where did it go wrong? Coaching centres failing to deliver Students from all the corners of the country mushroom to the coaching centres with a fond hope of securing a coveted engineering degree. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now But what often gets overlooked is the visible disparity in the foundational education. Unlike their counterparts in Tier 1, who benefit from better infrastructure, qualified teachers, and abundant learning resources, these students arrive with systemic disadvantages that run deep. Yet, most coaching centres adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, offering a uniform curriculum that ignores these academic disparities. Instead of levelling the playing field, this standardised model only amplifies the divide, placing already advantaged students on a pedestal while pushing those from underserved backgrounds even further behind. The result? A system that rewards privilege and punishes potential. Curse of obsession India's ultimate obsession with engineering stemmed from noble intentions. It was a ticket out of poverty, a gateway to global jobs, a badge of meritocracy. But as it is said, excess of everything is bad. But, over time, this pursuit translated into blind faith for the profession. Coaching centers were flocked, private colleges proliferated, and students with neither aptitude nor interest were funneled into engineering pipelines. A crisis in numbers: The rise of the unemployed engineer Between 2019 and 2024, India sanctioned 6.49 million undergraduate engineering seats, but only 4.55 million were filled, leaving 1.94 million seats vacant—a staggering 30% shortfall, according to data from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) (ThePrint). Data speaks volumes, and it does not indicate a happy picture. Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, only 1.64 million out of 3.43 million undergraduate engineering students secured campus placements, a mere 47.7% placement rate. When extended to all levels of engineering education, diploma, UG, and PG, only 41.4% found jobs. An uneven battlefield Reels and memes regarding engineers' salary and growth opportunities have been ubiquitous on social media. But it is not universal. Top-tier graduates from IITs, BITS, and select NITs are still landing jobs in FAANG companies or product-based MNCs at ₹20–30 lakh packages. But these roles are few and hyper-selective. The camera shifts towards the students graduating from Tier 2 and 3 colleges, showing a picture of despair. While the elite are headhunted, the majority jostle for mass hiring roles with little room for negotiation. In a nutshell: It's not an equal market. It never was. Oversupply vs. skill deficit: What is to be blamed? Market saturation, unskilled employees are always the best reasons to cover the situation. However, we need to peel off the layers to dig out the truth. India's engineering pipelines are not just overcrowded; it is also misaligned. A report by TeamLease notes that while 60% of engineering graduates are 'technically employable,' only 45% meet actual industry standards, and just 10% of the 1.5 million engineers graduating this year are expected to find employment What is the reason behind the mismatch? The curriculum in the private colleges remains outdated, faculty shortages exist, and hands-on training is not provided adequately, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities. Another major reason is that numerous students disinterested in the field fail to imbibe the related skills essential to the domain. The human cost The headlines may speak and the numbers may echo their truths, but at the heart of it all is a human being. A student. A teenager, barely 15 or 16, already grappling under the weight of expectations. First comes the pressure to crack the entrance to a coveted engineering college, and before the dust settles, they're thrust into yet another race, the relentless pursuit of a place in the corporate world. For the average engineering fresher, the emotional toll is staggering. Four years of rigorous study, high parental expectations, crushing loans, and yet, a ₹25,000/month salary, delayed joining dates, or worse, no offer letter at all. The disillusionment is seeping in. Reddit threads are flooded with stories of graduates switching to skilled trades, preparing for government exams, or abandoning engineering altogether. The mental health crisis is real, and the loss of trust in the education-to-employment pipeline is profound. What next? Blaming the torn fabric and seeing through it is easy, but stitching it demands courage. India does not need fewer engineers, it needs better engineers, trained in line with global demands, equipped for emerging and evolving technologies. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 offers a silver lining with its push for multidisciplinary learning and skill integration, but the implementation remains slow and fragmented. Industry too must step up, investing not just training but in reimagining hiring metrics beyond GPAs and rote memorisation. Most crucially, families and students must start asking harder and essential questions: Am I prepared for what comes after the degree? It is time to shrug off the myth that engineering is the ultimate professional destiny. It is a career, one that must be chosen with clarity, not compulsion. The great Indian engineering dream is not dead, it is breathing with wounds. It is a high time for a hard reset, and for the nation to change its lens. Because behind every 3 lakh salary and every unfulfilled dream, there is a story of misplaced ambition, systemic neglect, and a dream sold too cheaply. Until we fix that, Kota's factories will keep producing graduates, perhaps not necessarily engineers.
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