Freshers hiring sentiment sees gradual improvement: Report

New Delhi, September 21

Freshers hiring sentiment is witnessing a gradual improvement as 17 per cent of employers across India intend to hire freshers during July-December, 2021, a 2 per cent increase over the February–April 2021, says a report.

According to the ‘Career Outlook Report' by TeamLease EdTech, 17 per cent employers are keen to hire freshers in July-December 2021, despite the ongoing pandemic.

Interestingly, India leads in terms of freshers hiring sentiment amongst other nations.

"While the global average hovers around 6 per cent, in India the sentiment is much stronger (17 per cent)," the report, which deep dives into freshers hiring sentiment for the period July to December 2021, across 18 sectors and 14 cities said.

Moreover, the hiring Intent across all categories of job seekers in India – fresh or with experience – has risen to 31 per cent from 27 per cent over the same duration.

"It is good to see the buoyancy in freshers hiring sentiment despite the pandemic," said Shantanu Rooj, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, TeamLease Edtech.

Rooj, however, noted that "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 specialised skills and thus it is crucial for freshers to be fairly equipped." 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.

"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," said Neeti Sharma, President, and Co-Founder, TeamLease EdTech.

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 per cent), Telecommunication (25 per cent), and technology start-ups (25 per cent).

Other sectors which have also been faring well are Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals (23 per cent), Logistics (23 per cent) and Manufacturing (21 per cent). PTI