Is the demand for HR roles falling in India?

Should human resource (HR) talent be worried? They should if ‘AON India’s 13th Campus Study 2024-25’ data is to be believed. The report indicates that the demand for human-resource roles is likely to fall across sectors. For instance, the roles in the engineering/manufacturing sector that are likely to witness decrease in hiring are human resources, marketing and analytics. Financial institutions too are likely to hire less for human resource, data science and operations/supply chain roles. In the technology space again, the demand for HR, product management and sales will be less. The consumer space will also see a fall in demand for product management, human resource and engineering professionals. Human resource professionals will be less in demand in the energy space too, along with finance and accounting and production professionals.

The demographics covered by the study included, 22.60 per cent financial institutions, 10.50 per cent engineering/manufacturing firms, 15.60 per cent tech platforms and products, 10.10 per cent services, 9.70 per cent global capacity centres, 6.60 per cent FMCG/FMCD firms, 5.40 per cent life sciences companies, 5.80 per cent technology consulting and services firms, 4.70 per cent energy companies and 5.10 other firms including automotive/vehicle manufacturing and so on.

Which are the roles likely to witness an increase in hiring?

According to the report, in the engineering and manufacturing space, the demand for talent to fill engineering, sales/distribution, as well as operations/supply chain roles is likely to increase says the AON report. Financial institutions, on the other hand, will be hiring talent in the areas of analytics, finance and accounting, as well as product management. The technology sector will seek out talent in the spheres of data engineering, data science and analytics. Companies in the consumer space will hire more people to play roles in operations/supply chain, sales and distribution, and marketing. The energy sector will see an increase in hiring for marketing, engineering and sales and distribution roles.

Internships— first step to hiring for permanent roles

More than 80 per cent of organisations are relying on internships before hiring full-time talent, by making pre-placement offers on completion of internship. This practice is most prevalent for MTech. In fact, MTech and BTech interns are being increasingly hired in technology firms and in the engineering/manufacturing sector.

A whopping 92 per cent chartered accountants are hired as interns, and so are 91 per cent of other graduates. Clearly, internships are becoming rather popular. Most (91 per cent) of those with BTech degrees are offered internships, while 95 per cent of those with MTech degrees are hired as interns. A significant 92 per cent of those who have completed an MBA are also offered internships.

On the basis of qualifications, the maximum number of pre-placement offers are made to MTechs (88 per cent), followed by chartered accounts (86 per cent). On third position are BTechs (85 per cent), followed by other graduates (83 per cent) and MBAs (82 per cent) in that order. The hiring of MTech and BTech interns is driven primarily by technology and engineering/manufacturing companies.

What is the hiring volume like at the entry level?

Compared to 2023, there seems to have been an increase in intern and lateral hiring in 2024. About 46 per cent employers admit to an increase in intern hiring, while 45 per cent admit to an increase in lateral hiring. Only 34 per cent of employers say there has been a decrease in intern hiring, while 40 per cent say there has been a decrease in lateral hiring.

A good 47 per cent of the organisations admit that an increase has been witnessed in the hiring of CAs and CFAs, while 42 per cent say the hiring of entry-level engineers has gone up. About 37 per cent admit to increased hiring of non-engineers, while 30 per cent saw increased hiring of diploma holders. Thirty-eight per cent employers hired more MBA holders at the entry level.

Overall, organisations have witnessed lower hiring volumes. Clearly, they are hiring cautiously.