For the class of 2026, the job market is finally turning a corner, says report

India’s campus job market is rebounding, with companies expecting to hire more students and offer slightly better compensation this year, according to a new report from professional services firm Aon.

Aon’s annual Campus Study 2025 surveyed over 220 organizations and found a clear recovery in hiring sentiment after a difficult 2024 season. Last year, many firms reduced hiring, visited fewer campuses, and left nearly twice as many students unplaced compared to the previous year.

This year, the outlook is brighter. The study found that 73% of recruiters anticipate moderate to high growth in campus hiring, with 40% planning to expand their headcount by more than 10%. Information technology, industrial and materials companies, and healthcare organizations are among the sectors driving this recovery, while financial services, life sciences and consumer goods continue to be strong performers.

According to analyst calls from their June quarter results, top Indian IT firms are making big campus hiring bets: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) aims to recruit 40,000 students, Infosys 20,000, Wipro 10,000, and HCL Tech over 7,000, Mint reported earlier.

A new approach to recruitment

Companies are not just increasing their intake; they are also changing how they hire.

A key trend is “early bird hiring”, where firms extend pre-placement offers or interviews to high-performing interns to secure top talent before final placements. According to the Aon report, nearly 70% of companies are using this strategy. As Mint previously reported, this trend highlights how internships have become the primary recruitment pipeline for many leading institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

Recruiters are also becoming more selective, shifting away from mass hiring to focus on candidates with specific skills, industry readiness, and cultural fit. During the placement season last year, companies increasingly turned to new, gamified methods to assess skills like problem-solving in a dynamic job market, adapting to artificial intelligence (AI), Mint reported earlier. This year, 31% of recruiters plan to use gamified assessments to evaluate skills like problem-solving, while 51% intend to increase in-person interviews to ensure a fair and transparent process, as per the report.

Compensation trends reflect this focus on skills and performance. Instead of raising fixed salaries, companies are placing a greater emphasis on variable pay, which now ranges between 10% and 12% of the total package.

For MBA and engineering graduates, increases in total cost-to-company (CTC) packages have been marginal, with most of the bump coming from joining bonuses and short-term incentives. The study found that 67% of organizations now offer variable pay to their management hires.

Diversity and retention take centre stage

Beyond pay, companies are also prioritizing diversity, with a particular focus on gender. Half of the surveyed companies have set specific gender ratio targets for campus hires.

To achieve these goals, more than 30% are expanding their outreach to a wider range of institutions, including women-only colleges, a significant shift from past years when diversity was often a topic of discussion but lacked structured hiring practices.

“India’s campus hiring is evolving,” said Roopank Chaudhary, partner and head of data solutions for Aon India. “Companies are moving away from bulk intake to investing in early engagement, skill alignment and retention strategies.”

For students entering the job market in 2026, these developments represent a substantial improvement from last year’s nervous placement season. In 2024, global economic uncertainty led companies, particularly in IT, to cut intake levels and hold back on campus visit commitments. Pay increases were flat, and even top-ranked management institutes faced longer placement cycles.

This year’s findings suggest that firms are not only hiring more but are also prioritizing skills, diversity, and long-term retention. For students, this translates into earlier job security and a better opportunity to negotiate for career growth beyond their starting salary.