Manufacturing companies to hire more graduates from the 2024 batch: Report

Manufacturing companies in India are ramping up hiring as they look to expand their operations and meet the growing demand for their products. According to an ET report, manufacturing companies are planning to hire 15-30 per cent more graduates from the 2024 batch than they did from the 2023 batch.

This comes as the recent economic uncertainty which has wrought havoc on fresher recruitment across India’s top business and engineering institutions has not stopped some of India’s biggest corporations from doing just the opposite.

Blue-chip firms including Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Group, Dabur, Vedanta, Schneider, and RPG are significantly expanding their intake of entry-level, tech-savvy talent. This is in stark contrast to the tech sector, traditionally the largest recruiter of white-collar workers, which has dramatically cut back fresher hiring due to macroeconomic uncertainty.

They stated that the intake will spread beyond the elite IITs and IIMs to Tier 2 and Tier 3 universities.

"Young minds are often up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, possess a strong understanding of digital tools, and can contribute effectively towards digital transformation initiatives," Dilip Pattanayak, chief human resources officer at JSW Group told ET. The firm intends to hire approximately 2,000 new employees, including 1,600 graduate engineer trainees (GETs).

"Hiring young fresh talent provides opportunities of reverse mentoring for the leaders with whom these talents work," Pattanayak added.

According to C. Jayakumar, executive vice president and CHRO, engineering major L&T wants to hire more than 2,700 fresh graduates from elite colleges such as IITs and NITs.

According to him, campus hiring leads to the formation of future leaders. "It also contributes to optimising the overall staff cost, maintaining a youthful workforce, and shaping a well-balanced manpower structure," he went on to say. Tata Steel will hire approximately 700 graduates across many schools. "This is a significant increase over 2023 given our future growth plan," a company spokesperson told ET.

Maruti Suzuki India, the nation's leading car manufacturer, announced plans to enlarge its workforce by recruiting nearly 1,400 fresh candidates, primarily from IITs and NITs. This initiative sees a significant increase of over 20 per cent from last year's recruitment numbers, as stated by Rajesh Uppal, CIO & MEB - HR, IT, Safety & DE at Maruti Suzuki.

He ascribed it to expanding business needs, such as capacity growth, a broader product line, and the use of new-age technology.

Dabur India is planning to increase its campus hiring by approximately 10-15 per cent. Biplab Baksi, Executive Director of Human Resources at Dabur India, underscored the pressing need to engage with Gen-Z or the 'online' generation, using their preferred communication channels.

Baksi added that their specialized methods of interaction couldn't be overlooked in today's digital age. Meanwhile, Supratik Bhattacharyya, Chief Talent Officer at RPG Group, said their freshers hiring strategy has remained steady over the years, serving as an integral source for their talent pipeline.

Schneider Electric, a world leader in energy management solutions, has set sights on India as its new global talent hub. Since 2021, the company's yearly campus recruitment rates have tripled, according to Binu Philip, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for the Greater India Zone. "We hire for India and for the world," Philip stated, noting the company is seeking talent across varied domains such as data analytics, digital services, data science, cybersecurity, and research and development.

In line with this trend, Vedanta, a diversified conglomerate, plans to recruit around 1500-1800 graduates from the 2024 batch of top-tier institutes such as IIMs and IITs, disclosed Madhu Srivastava, its CHRO.

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