Despite a positive outlook for India's growth, with sectors like finance, life sciences, and consumer goods leading the charge, campus hiring remains cautious.

While 69% of organisations anticipate moderate to high growth in 2024-25, many are implementing hiring freezes or reducing recruitment volumes. However, internships, lateral hiring, and specialized roles like CA and CFA continue to be in demand

According to Aon’s Campus Study Report 2024-25, based on the responses of over 250 organisations surveyed, the hiring volume for CAs and CFAs increased by 47 per cent in the fiscal year 2024, followed by interns at 46 per cent and lateral hiring at 40 per cent, while 38 per cent of MBA graduates and 30 per cent of diploma holders including those who have completed vocational courses saw the least increase compared to the fiscal year 2023.

The compensation trends for campus hires remained largely stagnant across the tiers and qualifications, with some pockets seeing a dip in total fixed pay. Organisations are focusing on performance incentivisation through variable pay, which ranges between 11-13 per cent. MBA graduates are typically seeing a combination of incentives with more than 90 per cent of organisations offering a joining bonus plus variable pay.

Also, there has been an increase in hiring volumes of interns with more than 80 per cent of organisations offering pre-placement interviews or pre-placement offers to promising candidates upon successful completion of an internship, with the highest prevalence for graduates of master’s in technology. However, the study revealed that early attrition is a cause of concern among MBA and bachelor’s in technology graduates, the top reason being competitive pay.

Diversity beyond gender is still not a focus area for those surveyed

As many as 85 percent of organisations not hiring interns from diverse communities. However, 49 percent of organisations are investing in health and wellness, continuous feedback, learning and development, and rewards and recognition programs to drive well-being and performance.

“Campus hiring is a strategic opportunity for organisations to build a diverse, skilled, and future-ready talent pipeline. However, the campus hiring market in India is undergoing a rapid transformation due to the changing expectations of the candidates, the evolving skill requirements of the organisations, and the impact of the global slowdown,” said Roopank Chaudhary, partner and Head of Reward Solutions in India for Aon. “Furthermore, there is a direct correlation between company culture and performance, and organisations therefore must have policies and frameworks in place to align culture with employee expectations to ensure stickiness of the new hires.”

“While there is a clear focus on strategic hiring, companies must prioritise building a strong employee value proposition that aligns with the expectations of the new generation,” said Saachi Verma, senior consultant, Talent Solutions in India for Aon. “Our study highlights that the main drivers of early attrition are external pay inequity, job mismatch, and work-life balance. Designing a compelling value proposition for new hires that includes both a competitive compensation and bonus package along with learning opportunities and career growth will help attract and retain top talent for organisations.”