The IT sector has seen a 14 percentage point jump in hiring intent to 59% from 45% a year ago.
With more than 150,000 entry-level roles projected, leading IT firms are ramping up hiring to meet increased project demands, the report said.
Shantanu Rooj, chief executive of TeamLease Edtech, said, “IT services have been demonstrating muted sentiments for the last few years. Hence seeing bullishness in the IT sector is quite reassuring. This shall also have a larger positive impact on the placement of graduating engineering students, a large section of whom fancy getting into the IT sector.”
According to the report, driven by accelerated investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, roles in AI, machine learning, data analytics and cloud technologies are expected to grow 30-35% in FY2025.The report identified e-commerce and technology startups (70%), manufacturing (66%), and engineering and infrastructure (62%) as the top three sectors with the highest hiring intent for freshers.Meanwhile, the most sought-after roles for fresh graduates include clinical bioinformatics associate, robotics system engineer, sustainability analyst and prompt engineer—reflecting emerging trends across healthcare, automation and environmental sectors.
Jaideep Kewalramani, head of employability business, TeamLease Edtech, said, “Today, tech is just not limited to ergonomic tasks, routine jobs but it is effectively changing the current work model. The same sentiment can be seen in the job market with deep tech skills and roles making it to the top.”
Regionally, Bengaluru (78%), Mumbai (65%) and Chennai (57%) lead as the top three cities with the highest intent to recruit freshers.
Degree apprenticeships are also gaining traction, with hiring intent strongest in the manufacturing (30%), engineering and infrastructure (23%), and IT (12%) industries.
As companies increasingly look for talent with a blend of academic knowledge and hands-on experience, among cities, Bengaluru (29%), Chennai (24%) and Pune (18%) have the highest demand for degree apprentices.
While hiring sentiment is largely positive, some industries are seeing a downturn.
The top three sectors with negative hiring sentiment include media and entertainment (12%), marketing and advertising (11%), and consulting (10%). These industries are facing slower growth, probably due to budget constraints and shifting business priorities.
The report underscored the growing importance of essential technologies in the workplace. Employers are increasingly prioritising productivity and collaboration tools (83%), project management software (73%) and data visualisation tools (64%).
On the job seeker side, freshers are focusing on gaining expertise in data visualisation (92%), coding assistance tools (66%) and prompt engineering (57%) to align with industry demands.
The overall hiring intent across all experience levels stands at 79%, but sentiment varies significantly by experience range.
While freshers see a positive hiring trend, intent declines to 69% for those with one to five years of experience and further drops for mid-career professionals. The hiring sentiment for senior roles (six to 10 years of experience) is at 40%, whereas it is negligible for those with more than 15 years of experience. The trend indicates that companies prioritise entry-level and early-career professionals while being cautious about senior-level hiring.
The report is based on employer surveys conducted between October and December 2024. The survey covered 649 employers across various industries, with 480 indicating intent to hire freshers and 192 expressing interest in hiring degree apprentices.