Freshers hiring intent rises, but one-third industries cut plans

New Delhi: India’s fresher hiring intent rose for the second half of 2026, even as hiring plans declined across one in three industries, including IT, consulting, telecom, marketing & advertising, media & entertainment and educational services, according to TeamLease EdTech’s Career Outlook Report HY2 2026, released on Monday.

The overall hiring intent increased 2 percentage points from 73% in the first half of 2026, with retail, ecommerce and technology startups leading at 93% each, followed by manufacturing at 89%.

However, IT fresher hiring intent fell to 76% from 81% in the first half. Consulting, telecom and marketing & advertising each declined 3 percentage points, while media & entertainment and educational services fell 2 percentage points.


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“What we’re seeing this second half of the year is less about how many freshers get hired, and more about which freshers get hired,” said Shantanu Rooj, founder, TeamLease EdTech.

He said sectors such as retail, e-commerce and manufacturing were scaling up as they found candidates with practical, job-ready skills.

“IT and consulting, on the other hand, are being more selective precisely because the skill bar has moved,” Rooj said, adding that employers increasingly expect AI fluency, applied problem-solving and hands-on project experience from freshers.

Bengaluru remained the leading city for fresher hiring intent at 89%, followed by Mumbai at 75% and Chennai at 71%.

The top five in-demand fresher roles were AI application developer, junior semiconductor design engineer, data centre operations associate, programmatic advertising associate, and inventory and dispatch executive.

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Skill-first certifications are also gaining traction, with VLSI chip design, AI engineering, cloud security, digital marketing analytics and good manufacturing practices emerging as the top courses.

The survey is based on responses from 1,097 companies collected between May and July 2026 across industries and cities in India. It examines fresher hiring intent, in-demand roles, required skills and emerging hiring models for July-December 2026.