Executives Quit Jobs Abroad for IIMC

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14 Apr 2009, 0048 hrs IST, Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, TNN

KOLKATA: At least six to seven executives working in senior positions abroad have foregone an annual salary package of anything between $100,000 and
$150,000 to join an MBA programme at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. This is the third year of the post graduate programme for executives (PGPEX) but this is the first time that so many have kicked foreign jobs to be here.

Take the case of Jayeeta Sharma, a business associate at Millenium Operations in New York, who quit her job that paid a neat $100,000. "It indeed was a major decision to quit the comfort of a cushy job and once again enter student life. But it was pointless spending $120,000 on tuition fees in a US business school when the market conditions are so bad," she admits.

The ongoing economic slump has played a major role in this decision making, they confide. Sushmita Kanjilal, another PGPEX candidate preferred to quit her position from TCS in the US. "I was in a techie role but wanted a direct managerial role. Moreover, the market in the US is not too good now, so I have decided to study in the meantime and then hope for a better growth through placements," she said.

Tauqueer Ali has 9 years of experience and was earning a huge salary at a US outfit of IBM Global Services. "The PGPEX placements at IIM-C has even given 100 per cent hikes salarywise in the Indian context. I have plans to live and work in India for sometime," he said.

Candidates who have quit senior positions in the Nuclear Power Corporation, NTPC, BSNL, BHEL and Tata Steel have also joined this PGPEX batch of 55. "PGPEX was designed to give senior executives with a considerable work experience, a chance to get an MBA degree. We are extremely happy to get people with such diverse backgrounds," said the chairperson of PGPEX, Biju Abraham.
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