Contractual Hiring Witnesses Growth At 15% CAGR Since 2022: Report

A recent research by Careernet, India’s leading talent solutions provider, on the ‘Contractual Hiring Trends in India,’ suggests that contractual jobs have been growing at a strong 15% CAGR since 2022. The comprehensive research highlights the outlook of India’s contractual hiring landscape while shedding light on the factors driving its consistent growth. The report highlights an even bigger leap of 20–25% in 2024 compared to the preceding year.

Delving into sector-specific data, the study found that Offshoring services companies continue to employ the largest share (around 55% of all contractual employees in IT Staffing vertical) about 30% with GCC and remaining 15 per cent with domestic conglomerates & startups.

Careernet unveiled that role in the software development Discipline, in areas such as backend, full stack/Java, .NET, frontend will make up for the 50 per cent of the flexible labour market for technology professionals. And the remaining 50 per cent will be other roles such as ERP, Analytics, Testing and System/NW Administration by the end of 2024. And Automation testing, .NET and Java are the frontrunner as far as the demand is concerned.

Careernet's research reveals the factors driving the demand for contractual hiring in India. It suggests that in a volatile business landscape, a lack of long-term visibility has led to increased contractual hiring. With this model, companies optimise costs by reducing permanent roles in their global operational setups. With more GCCs driving demand, the acceptance of contractual jobs is on the rise. Flexi hires can immediately bolster projects by accelerating the hiring process and plugging skill gaps.

Speaking on the state of contractual hiring in India, Anshuman Das, CEO and Co-founder of Careernet, said, "The upward trend in contractual hiring can be attributed to the shifting market dynamics and the changing nature of jobs. Companies are hiring talent with specialised skills for specific job roles to benefit from their expertise without the need for extensive training. The trend has been extremely beneficial to foreign companies and GCCs operating in the country, as contractual hiring gives them access to a huge pool of diverse talent while maintaining a lean workforce.”