The Year 2024 A Mixed Bag For Hiring In India

In the manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure spaces, there were pockets where hiring happened, but it was not a boom like situation. Considering the market sentiment, these sectors did well in 2024 - Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, tells Bizz Buzz

Bengaluru: Job market in India remained mix with some sectors leading the show, while others showing not so encouraging trend in 2024. While segments like IT services witnessed some growth revival, hiring in traditional sectors like pharmaceutical and financial services remained steady.

In manufacturing, automotive, engineering & infrastructure sectors, hiring was a mixed bag that went through crests and troughs. “In the consumer products, automotive spaces and others; it was a mixed trend. In some months, we have seen an uptrend; while in others, it was a downtrend. So, peaks and troughs continued in those sectors. In the manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure spaces, there were pockets where hiring happened, but it was not a boom like situation. Considering the market sentiment, these sectors did well (in 2024),” Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, told Bizz Buzz.

Hiring in the pharmaceutical industry continued to happen at its usual pace. In BFSI sector, it has not been very encouraging. Investment banking has seen a lot of movements but in other segments, hiring has been steady, he added.

Hiring trend in India this year has been reflective of the country’s growth rate. While some months saw recruitment across sectors going up, some witnessed a fall in line with growth of services and manufacturing sectors.

Meanwhile, IT industry is the only sector that saw growth revival after two years of lull. Many Indian and global tech companies visited engineering college campuses this year.

In 2024, the top four IT services firms in India have indicated that that they intend to hire around 70,000 fresh engineering graduates in the current financial year. While TCS plans to hire 40,000 freshers, Infosys is also planning to recruit 15,000-20,000 freshers in the ongoing financial year. Similarly, Wipro is planning to hire around 10,000-12,000 fresh graduates this year.

However, the much-celebrated startup space continued to reel under ongoing funding winter.

“In the startup space, recruitment remained subdued this year. Only select startups, which have received investment, undertook hiring and expansion, while many others continued to operate with their existing resources,” Mishra said.

Despite all the buzz, emerging segments like semiconductors and renewable energy saw less hiring in 2024.

“In semiconductor space, there was a lot of buzz. In this segment, a lot of senior level hiring has happened internationally from Taiwan, South Korea and others as experts are available in those markets. But hiring is yet to start in a big way and may happen in 2025. Similarly, in renewable energy space, some hiring has happened given the interest level,” Mishra said.