Campus Hiring In India Showing Strong Resurgence: Study
On the brighter side, half the companies surveyed have gender balance targets for new recruits and over a third are actively reaching out to women-only colleges highlighting gender ratio targets as a top priority for firms: Reports
MUMBAI: After a lull in 2024, campus hiring in India is seeing a remarkable resurgence with 73 per cent of recruiters anticipating moderate to high growth, according to the fourteenth edition of the Aon Campus Study Report 2025-26. Sectors namely financial institutions, life sciences, information technology, industrial and materials, healthcare are experiencing marked growth.
However, while jobs are up, salary hikes remain modest; variable pay now makes up about 10-12 per cent of packages for many management hires.
While master’s in business administration (MBA) and engineering graduates have seen slight increases in total cost to company (TCC), the rise is primarily driven by variable pay and joining bonuses rather than fixed pay. For instance, 67 percent of organisations offer short-term incentives or variable pay to MBA graduates, found the study.
On the brighter side, half the companies surveyed have gender balance targets for new recruits and over a third are actively reaching out to women-only colleges highlighting gender ratio targets as a top priority for firms.
Drawing on responses from over 220 organisations about their campus recruitment practices, the study found that over 40 percent of surveyed companies plan to expand their workforce by more than 10 percent in FY26, signalling a broader job market recovery and positioning India favourably amidst global economic challenges.
The study further reveals that organisations are increasingly prioritising culture alignment, recognising its critical role in employee retention and performance. Fifty three percent of respondents see a direct correlation between performance and culture, highlighting the importance of cultural alignment in driving performance. Nearly 90 percent of organisations participating in the survey assess cultural fit during the hiring process, often through HR interviews and
behavioural assessments.
The report also notes that internships have emerged as a strategic pipeline, with over 70 percent of organisations offering pre-placement interviews or offers to high-performing interns.