Companies sail through hiring slump on apprenticeships

BENGALURU: With companies adopting a more cautious approach to hiring, apprenticeships are emerging as a rare window of opportunity for young engineering graduates hoping to break into MNCs. This trend, accelerated during the pandemic, has pushed firms to look beyond traditional talent pools. Unlike internships, apprenticeships target graduates who already have a degree but are yet to secure their first job.

While global capability centres (GCCs) typically visit campuses for niche tech skills, a growing share of engineering and tech work is now being handed to apprentices. SA Technologies, which supplies workforce and business solutions to GCCs, hires BTech graduates as apprentices and sees the approach as both cost-efficient and low-risk. "Instead of hiring and training, we get the opportunity to train and hire them, with no obligation to retain. This lets us mould them the way we want," said its COO Aditya Joshi. Apprentices at the firm earn between Rs 20,000 and Rs 35,000 a month - significantly lower than the salaries typically offered to graduates from premier institutes. SA Technologies is in its third cohort, bringing in around two dozen apprentices annually. A recent TeamLease apprenticeship report pegs the national average stipend at Rs 20,000 a month.

Vikas Birla, partner at Deloitte India, which focuses on immigration, tax and labour law, said clients are increasingly hiring from smaller towns, often offering remote roles or relocation allowances. The trend, it said, is not purely driven by cost, with apprentices typically earning well above the mandated minimum stipend of Rs 12,300.

LatentView Analytics has broadened the model by onboarding statistics graduates. Apprentices undergo a year-long programme combining sandbox projects with theory modules. The company recruits roughly 50 apprentices every year, largely to tap candidates who often get overlooked due to limited access or communication barriers. "Tier-II and tier-III colleges are often missed during campus placements, and many students do not know how to approach recruiters. We run online assessments just like regular campus hiring and select based on performance," said Ms. Remadevi Thottathil, Chief Human Resources Officer, LatentView Analytics. LatentView's apprentices come from places such as Virudhunagar as well as metros like Chennai, and many are placed on data engineering assignments.

Hexagon R&D India adopts a similar approach but assigns apprentices directly to live projects. "They gain hands-on experience on real deliverables under experienced mentors. When they convert to full-time roles, the same teams typically absorb them," said its HR director Krupali Ravali. All three companies also run structured soft-skills programmes for their cohorts.

According to Nipun Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Apprenticeship, about 75% of the companies hiring apprentices see at least a 40% conversion rate. "GCCs and MNCs also tap this pool to meet their diversity commitments," he said.



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