After a tough FY24, engineering graduates have a good reason to cheer as IT companies are back at campuses for hiring, said training and placement officers. Wipro is expected to hire an estimated 10,000-12,000 freshers and TCS is looking at significant recruitments. HCL Technologies has said that it will look at 10,000 hires from campuses this year.
“Companies like Accenture, Cognizant and Capgemini are currently running their hiring drives across colleges. Apart from the mass hirers, we have so far had enquiries from 40 product companies as well,” said S Rawandale, training and placement officer at the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering in Pune.
“We are focused on building a global talent workforce with new-age skills and experience of embracing latest industry-leading solutions and operating models and strengthen our capabilities in emerging technologies such as AI, data and cyber security, and digital transformation,” an HCL Tech spokesperson told FE. The company said it plans to “hire up to 10,000 freshers in 2024-2025, moderated (from 12,141 in FY24) to meet business needs”.
Most of the major IT companies had scaled back their campus hiring in FY24 leading to the placement rate falling to 40-50%. This year, however, training and placement officers (TPOs) are hopeful that nearly 70% of the freshers will find placements.
There has been a fair amount of nervousness among colleges and students on how campus placements will turn out for the FY25 batch, given not only the tepid response from the IT companies last year but also the global headwinds. “One of our biggest fears was whether they will stall hiring or delay the process till the US elections are done. However, IT companies seem to be going ahead with their campus recruitment plans like usual,” said the TPO with another engineering college in Maharashtra said.
The uncertainties around US immigration policy will however play a part in the campus placement strategy for companies, staffing firms said.
“I would say this year, IT firms are looking at campus hiring with cautious optimism. While the challenges in US & Europe and West Asia geopolitical conflicts continue and call for caution, there is also an emerging domestic market for these companies which would bolster hiring. This will lead to better placements than last year,” RP Yadav, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based staffing firm Genius Consultants Ltd, said.
Learning from the challenges of the past two years, engineering colleges have also sharpened their focus on student placement efforts. Many are collaborating with IT firms to get a better understanding of their hiring expectations, staffing executives said.
“To boost placement success, students are receiving training in problem-solving, critical thinking, and specialised areas like prompt engineering and others. Additionally, colleges have also introduced coaches to offer tips on cracking interviews,” Krishna Vij, vice president – TeamLease Digital.
In some cases, IT firms also have made efforts to collaborate at grassroots level by co-hosting certification courses in fields like AI and prompt engineering, placement and staffing executive added.
For example, Tech Mahindra is focusing on training freshers to better equip them with up-to-date skills and knowledge.
“We have introduced Project Fortius, a programme under which we will consistently induct freshers and follow it up with an extensive training programme in next-gen technologies to make the deployment more seamless. Additionally, we are developing a rigorous training programme to equip freshers with the latest industry know-how and technological expertise as well,” Richard Lobo , chief people officer , Tech Mahindra said.
He added that the firm looks for diversity while hiring freshers in alignment “Tech Mahindra’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace”.
Apart from preparing the students in alignment with the expectations of the IT firms, more colleges are opening their doors to companies from other sectors that have significant tech talent requirement.
“There is also a growing emphasis on GCCs and non-tech companies, as they, too, are ramping up their hiring of tech talent, broadening career opportunities for students,” Vij added.
With new technologies coming to the fore, niche skills are increasing in demand though the bulk of hiring requirement continue to be in the core IT skills. These skills include AI, ML, cloud computing, and data analytics and are sought after by IT companies.