Freshers are back in demand

Sectors that 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 that have been faring well in terms of hiring freshers are healthcare & pharmaceuticals (23%), logistics (23%) and manufacturing (21%).

From a location perspective, the leading cities for freshers’ hiring are Bengaluru (43%), Mumbai (31%), Delhi (27%), Chennai (23%) and Pune (21%).

Shantanu Rooj, founder & 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 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.”

He added that while the hiring sentiment is improving, “we need to be cognisant of the employability of freshers. Employers are more inclined to hire candidates with specialised 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 programmes in accordance with industry requirements for job roles to ensure candidates are employable.”

In India, employability is a higher concern than employment. On one hand, HEIs 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 need to relook at their hiring and training strategy to skill freshers. Neeti Sharma, president & co-founder, TeamLease EdTech, added that more and 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,” said Sharma.

Further, according to the report findings, some of the key roles across sectors for which freshers’ hiring has been high are healthcare assistants, sales trainee/associates, full stack developers, and telemarketing and digital marketing specialists.

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