The demand for freshers and professionals with 1-5 years of experience is expected to grow in the first half of 2025. The latest report from TeamLease Edtech shows that not just a significantly higher proportion of companies are willing to hire freshers in the January-to-June period this year, they are going to ramp up their fresher hirings in the first six months of 2025 as compared to July-to-December 2024 period.
For instance, 74% of companies have reported that they will hire freshers in H1CY25 as compared to 72% in H2CY24. The surge in fresher hiring is fuelled by the demand for professionals trained in artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
“The union budget has allocated Rs 500 crore for the centre of excellence in AI for education. This showcases India’s zeal to proliferate AI research and skills at a massive scale. The hiring intent across industries align closely with the government’s vision of creating an AI-proficient workforce through strategic budget allocation and education initiatives,” the report said.
Similarly, 69% of companies plan to hire professionals with 1-5 years of experience in H1CY25 as compared to 66% in H2CY24. On the other side, the demand for experienced professionals (6 years of work experience and above) is on a slide.
However, on an aggregate basis, more companies are intending to hire more people in the first half of 2025 (79%) in comparison to second half of 2024 (72%).
The survey said young professionals can find unprecedented opportunities in e-commerce and tech startups with 70% of the employers planning to hire freshers, followed by the manufacturing sector at 66% and engineering & infrastructure at 62%. “Cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Chennai remain key employment hubs with hiring intent in these cities reaching 78%, 65% and 57% respectively,” the report said.
While hiring, companies are increasingly seeking professionals with technical and interpersonal capabilities. In terms of soft skills for entry-level positions, employers are looking for computational thinking, interpersonal skills, analytic reasoning, adaptability and flexibility.
The report, based on a survey of 649 employers across India, also points out the top job roles where the freshers will most likely be employed include clinical bioinformatics associate, robotics system engineer, sustainability analyst and prompt engineer.
“The evolving job market is redefining how talent is evaluated. Employers are no longer just hiring for degrees, they are prioritising skills in areas like data visualisation, cloud computing, and robotics. This shift is creating unparalleled opportunities for freshers to step into high-impact roles and become key drivers of innovation across industries,” said Jaideep Kewalramani, head of employability business & COO at TeamLease Edtech.