Story outline
- Who’s looking for campus talent - McKinsey, BCG, EY, PWC, Deloitte
- Reasons for hiring – More demand for consulting support as companies across sectors digitise
- Top profiles in demand -- Cybersecurity, Devops, Cloud tech, mobility, data science, process & functional advisory, accounting & audit, forensics, risk advisory
- In 2021-22, big four professional services firms and their subsidiaries in India created 55,000 new jobs
Consulting and professional services firms such as McKinsey, BCG, EY, PWC and Deloitte are looking at scaling up their campus hiring in India this year, even as companies keep a close watch on the global macroeconomic headwinds and recession in the United States.
EY is planning to hire about 10,000 freshers from engineering and management colleges for its India business as well as global delivery services, according to people aware of the matter, while BCG plans to double its campus intake in 2023 compared to its hiring before the Covid-19 pandemic.
McKinsey too plans to expand its campus hiring footprint to meet the high demand in consulting support. PwC, which is planning to hire 10,000 people in the next five years, said it is on course to achieving its talent acquisition target well before the deadline.
“From a business point of view we are seeing strong growth in India and globally. To meet the high demand consultant support post-pandemic, we will hire a record number of freshers this year, from top campuses such as the IITs and IIMs, undergraduate colleges such as St Stephen’s, LSR and SRCC, while expanding to a few other campuses,” said Natarajan Sankar, campus recruiting chair, BCG India.
Aditya Sharma, partner at McKinsey, said, “We continue to broaden our aperture to bring in exceptional talent by expanding our campus and lateral hiring footprint. We closed 2022 on a positive note to recruit our largest class… Our hiring was 70% more than in 2021… For 2023, we will plan to continue to hire in the same trajectory and look for the best talent.”
Hiring from campuses is growing as talent is in short supply, said Deloitte’s chief talent officer SV Nathan. However, he said, frenzied hiring will give way to a more temperate intake of fresh talent.
Some industry insiders said even as hiring may go up compared to last year, companies will be circumspect about over-hiring freshers as there is a widespread anticipation that the US market may play spoilsport.
“There will be a staggering of when these people will be absorbed in the organisation as there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the US economy and its impact on project flow,” a senior executive at a large professional services company said on condition of anonymity. “That apart, the all-time high attrition seen in the last one year is also sobering down and that may also have a moderating impact on demand for talent."
A large chunk of the hiring will be focused on technology, digital and cybersecurity, as companies across sectors continue to seek consulting support on their accelerated focus on digitisation and technology adoption in the wake of the pandemic.
“With campuses now opening up, we have been actively engaging with students in-person, underscoring career opportunities and exceptional experience with a leading professional services firm like ours,” said Sandeep Kohli, talent leader at EY.
In 2021-22, the big four professional services firms and their subsidiaries together created about 55,000 new jobs in India, with about 52,000 of these in the technology function alone, according to data from specialist staffing firm Xpheno. Gross hiring stood at 88,000, including the headcount refill due to an annual attrition rate of about 23%.
Other key domains for fresh hiring include climate change, startups, cybersecurity, business consulting, strategy and transactions, ESG, risk and deals.
“We are trying to create a workplace of the future, one that encourages innovation and excellence, with an ultimate aim of supporting our clients and India’s growth agenda,” said Joydeep Roy, talent supply chain leader, PwC India.
EY is planning to hire about 10,000 freshers from engineering and management colleges for its India business as well as global delivery services, according to people aware of the matter, while BCG plans to double its campus intake in 2023 compared to its hiring before the Covid-19 pandemic.
McKinsey too plans to expand its campus hiring footprint to meet the high demand in consulting support. PwC, which is planning to hire 10,000 people in the next five years, said it is on course to achieving its talent acquisition target well before the deadline.
“From a business point of view we are seeing strong growth in India and globally. To meet the high demand consultant support post-pandemic, we will hire a record number of freshers this year, from top campuses such as the IITs and IIMs, undergraduate colleges such as St Stephen’s, LSR and SRCC, while expanding to a few other campuses,” said Natarajan Sankar, campus recruiting chair, BCG India.
Aditya Sharma, partner at McKinsey, said, “We continue to broaden our aperture to bring in exceptional talent by expanding our campus and lateral hiring footprint. We closed 2022 on a positive note to recruit our largest class… Our hiring was 70% more than in 2021… For 2023, we will plan to continue to hire in the same trajectory and look for the best talent.”
Hiring from campuses is growing as talent is in short supply, said Deloitte’s chief talent officer SV Nathan. However, he said, frenzied hiring will give way to a more temperate intake of fresh talent.
Some industry insiders said even as hiring may go up compared to last year, companies will be circumspect about over-hiring freshers as there is a widespread anticipation that the US market may play spoilsport.
“There will be a staggering of when these people will be absorbed in the organisation as there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the US economy and its impact on project flow,” a senior executive at a large professional services company said on condition of anonymity. “That apart, the all-time high attrition seen in the last one year is also sobering down and that may also have a moderating impact on demand for talent."
A large chunk of the hiring will be focused on technology, digital and cybersecurity, as companies across sectors continue to seek consulting support on their accelerated focus on digitisation and technology adoption in the wake of the pandemic.
“With campuses now opening up, we have been actively engaging with students in-person, underscoring career opportunities and exceptional experience with a leading professional services firm like ours,” said Sandeep Kohli, talent leader at EY.
In 2021-22, the big four professional services firms and their subsidiaries together created about 55,000 new jobs in India, with about 52,000 of these in the technology function alone, according to data from specialist staffing firm Xpheno. Gross hiring stood at 88,000, including the headcount refill due to an annual attrition rate of about 23%.
Other key domains for fresh hiring include climate change, startups, cybersecurity, business consulting, strategy and transactions, ESG, risk and deals.
“We are trying to create a workplace of the future, one that encourages innovation and excellence, with an ultimate aim of supporting our clients and India’s growth agenda,” said Joydeep Roy, talent supply chain leader, PwC India.
( Originally published on Sep 25, 2022 )
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