Aishwar Arya, a bachelor in business administration (BBA) student from JD Birla Institute’s department of management, has recast his plan and decided to do an MBA instead of gathering work experience after his course ends in June 2009.

The 21-year-old has realised that given the grim economic outlook — growth projections for the Indian economy have been scaled down from 9 per cent to around 7 per cent over the past few months — it is wiser to hit the job market better equipped.

“My employability will go up if I spend another two years in the education system and complete my MBA. Besides, the job market doesn’t look promising at this moment,” said Arya.

So, apart from preparing for his final semester BBA examination scheduled for March 2009, Arya is also burning the midnight oil for CAT 2008, the combined admission test for the six Indian institutes of management (IIM) and several other premier B-schools in the country.

Not just students like Arya, even working professionals are slogging it out for the November 16 test.

According to IIM Calcutta authorities, over 2.68 lakh students — the highest ever in the three decades of CAT — have registered for the nation-wide test.

With the applicant pool growing every year, the IIM authorities are reluctant to link economic outlook with the near 20 per cent rise over the number of applications in 2007.

The number of applicants for other B-schools like the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has gone up by 25 to 30 per cent this year. Enquiries at Globsyn Business School, a city-based management institute, for their MBA programme has gone up by around 30 per cent.

In the developed world, during economic downturn, students spend more years in education and laid-off employees go back to the classroom for skill enhancement.

“It is true that in countries like America laid-off employees return to education to re-skill themselves for better marketability in times of crisis,” said Anup Sinha, a professor of economics at IIM Calcutta.

Debrup Bose (name changed on request) has a well-paying job with an infotech company in Sector V in Salt Lake. But after the spate of pink slips in the tech world, the 27-year-old engineering graduate has decided to do an MBA.

“All I know is software programming. I need to develop managerial skills to make my CV more attractive and allow me to switch industries,” said Bose, who will be appearing for CAT and a few other admission tests.

According to Bikram Dasgupta, the director of Globsyn Business School, the impact of the global meltdown would make the Indian job market more competitive.

“People with professional degrees will surely have an edge over others,” said Dasgupta.

The rise in demand for MBA courses can also be felt at institutes that offer training on how to crack the admission tests.

“There is a sudden increase in the number of people with work experience, who want to sit for CAT this year. This reminds me of the dotcom bust, when many people lost their jobs and joined B-schools,” said Kaushik Kapoor of Erudite, a coaching centre for B-school admission tests.

“Learning from past experience, people are no longer waiting for pink slips and planning their career moves in advance,” he added.