Employers Keen on Hiring Freshers in India: TeamLease Study

TeamLease EdTech launched their latest in-depth analysis ‘Career Outlook Report”. The report, which deep dives into freshers hiring sentiment for the period July to December 2021 across 18 sectors and 14 cities, indicates that 17% employers are keen to hire freshers in H2 2021. Interestingly, India leads in the freshers hiring sentiment amongst other nations. While the global average hovers around 6%, in India the sentiment is much stronger (17%).

From a sector perspective, the emerging sectors which have been able to withstand the impact of the pandemic and witnessed a stronger hiring sentiment are Information Technology (31%), Telecommunication (25%) and Technology Start-ups (25%). Others sectors which have also been faring well are Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals (23%), Logistics (23%) and Manufacturing (21%). From a location perspective, the leading cities for freshers hiring are Bangalore (43%), Mumbai (31%) and Delhi (27%), Chennai (23%) and Pune (21%).

Sharing his views on the ecosystem, Shantanu Rooj, founder and CEO, TeamLease Edtech, said: “It is good to see the buoyancy in freshers hiring sentiment despite the pandemic. During the February to April period, close to 15% of the employers were keen on hiring freshers, the sentiment seems to be not only intact, but has cemented further in the current half year. Close to 17% employers are inclined to hire freshers. While the hiring sentiment is improving, we need to be cognizant of the employability of the freshers as well. Employers are more inclined to hire candidates with specialized skills and thus it is crucial for freshers to be fairly equipped. Here is where the role of HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) comes in. HEIs must structure their programs in accordance with industry requirements for job roles to ensure candidates are employable.”

“In India, employability is a higher concern than employment. While on one side HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) need to look at a blended learning ecosystem. They should explore a learning model wherein there is a convergence of offsite and onsite learning as well as industry training that arms the candidates with the right skill sets. On the other hand, employers also need to re-look at their hiring and training strategy to skill the freshers. Incidentally, more employers are now using Hire-Train-Deploy (HTD) to on-board and train freshers. This is enabling them to create a stronger workforce for the future. Greater acceptance of HTD and similar models will equip our youngsters to take advantage of the growing opportunities. ”, adds Neeti Sharma, president and co-founder, TeamLease EdTech.

Further, according to the report findings, some of the key roles, across sectors, for which freshers hiring has been high are Health Care Assistants, Sales trainee/Associates, Full Stack Developers, Telemarketing and Digital Marketing Specialists. Further deep diving into the report, hiring trends vs. sectors vs. roles, for the top hiring sectors indicate:

From a skill set point of view, employers are keener to hire candidates who have in-depth skills and knowledge of Data Analytics, Sales/Customer Services, Data Engineering, Python Programming, Project Management, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing amongst other skills. The report also highlights the courses that freshers can take to improve their employability. Some of the most in demand courses, according the study, are Programming, Mobile App Development, AI and Data Science, Cyber-Security, Research and Management.