Freshers face challenge to get jobs due to those who graduated last year

Freshers are facing a 'fresher glut' created by a spike in the talent pool of young professionals with experience of one to two years

Freshers, those who graduated in 2023, are facing a challenge in getting placed due to a rise in the number of those who graduated in 2022 looking for a job change in sectors like consulting, IT services and startups, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Friday.

According to a normal of 25 per cent of candidates from the 2022 batch looking for a job change, this year, the number has swelled up to 45 per cent, the report said, citing data from recruitment firm HirePro. This has led to this year's graduates facing a challenge to get and then retain the jobs they bagged in their campus placements.

Freshers are facing a "fresher glut" created by a spike in the talent pool of young professionals with an experience of one to two years.

S Pasupathi, chief operating officer of HirePro, was quoted by ET as saying that the problem is going to escalate for the 2023 batch in a few months when the 2024 batch starts to look for jobs and enter the talent pool.

The report also added that companies are increasingly looking to hire those with experience of a year or two rather than those fresh out of college.

At a time when companies are facing a slowdown in their revenue growth, they cannot afford to add to their non-billable bench and many are looking for readily deployable people. They are more focused on cost optimisation and efficiency improvement.

Another expert, Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of Ciel HR Services, was also quoted in the report as saying that this year, there is a 15-20 per cent decline in hiring of freshers as compared to last year.