Even with a decrease in staff and fewer new hires, 79 per cent of IT/ITES employers anticipate a rise in apprentice recruitment in the upcoming months, states a Quess Corp report. The data indicates a remarkable 250 per cent annual growth in apprentice headcount within the sector.
The IT/ITES industry has been steadily increasing apprentice hiring to lower workforce costs, build a skilled pool and enhance staff loyalty.
Currently, more than 9 lakh youth who are apprentices are in the age group of 23–26 years. According to the report, employers in the IT/ITES sector are likely to pay between ₹11,000-75,000 to apprentices between the ages of 20-24 years. However, the stipend pay for other sectors differs depending on educational qualifications.
Girija S, VP at Quess Corp, notes a significant uptick in apprentice hiring in the IT segment over the past year, contributing to the industry’s growth. “This trend extends to both metro and tier-2 cities, with BFSI also experiencing growth. The potential for apprentice skilling and job creation in IT and BFSI is substantial, expected to generate around 5 million jobs by 2025,” he added.
Further, BFSI and IT/ITES were the top industries employing apprentices in the past year, considering the high return on investment (ROI) amidst ongoing uncertainties and global turmoil. Notably, 75 per cent of apprentices engaged in the BFSI and IT sectors complete training and are considered for full-time employment, ranking much higher when compared to other industries.
Key roles in high demand include IT support, BPO executive, voice/data entry operator, associate CRM, embedded systems engineer, design engineer, devOps engineer, data engineer, and blockchain developer.
In terms of loaction, cities such as Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and Pune are anticipated to lead apprentice hiring in 2023, while metros such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad witnessed significant increases. In contrast, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and Kolkata showed minimal traction in apprentice hiring.
The report also highlights a nearly seven-fold increase in the registration of women candidates over the last five years, reaching 1.48 lakh in FY 2022–23. Meanwhile, 51 per cent of employers exhibit no gender preferences in apprentice hiring overall.
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Published on November 30, 2023
