Mangaluru: Campus recruitment at engineering colleges in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi is shifting from entry-level coding jobs to high-end product engineering roles.Engineering graduates are securing salaries ranging from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 21 lakh a year for specialised positions, against traditional starting packages of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, amid changing campus recruitment trends, say college managements.“Companies which are coming are hiring only for the high-end role, not for the lower role because low-end roles are being phased out due to AI, so engineers are now getting more into product development with better compensation,” said Rashmi Bhandary, dean of training and placement at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management.She said the selection process for these positions had become considerably more demanding.Companies such as Microsoft and Amazon continue to recruit from leading colleges in the region. While some students have secured campus offers of up to Rs 79 lakh per annum, off-campus placements last year reportedly fetched packages of up to Rs 1.2 crore.KV Sriram, associate director of industry liaison, Placement and Practice School at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, said a strong grasp of fundamental concepts was now more important than merely knowing how to write code.“Students should be more familiar with fundamental knowledge like data structures and algorithms because basic coding is being handled by AI, which should only be used as a tool and not as a replacement,” he said.Placement offices are also helping students obtain industry-recognised certifications to improve their employability and prepare them for the changing recruitment landscape.Meanwhile, the two-day Alva’s Pragati 2026, the 16th edition of the mega placement drive organised by the Alva’s Education Foundation, saw the participation of 332 companies and attracted 15,539 candidates from diverse educational and professional backgrounds.The drive resulted in 2,416 spot offers and 6,183 shortlists. The IT and IT-enabled Services (IT/ITeS) sector recorded 1,301 shortlists and 96 spot selections across 34 participating companies. Woodrock Infotech offered work-from-home positions to 17 shortlisted candidates, while Protalk Solutions selected 39 candidates for positions based in Chennai. Elogixa offered one candidate an international on-site opportunity in Congo, Africa, said the management.
