Demand for chartered accountants surges as graduate hiring plans shift

UPDATE - follow-up to 56% of Indian companies plan to hire more CAs, CSs despite decline in exam applications: Survey: Fifty-six per cent of Indian organisations plan to increase their hiring of Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries, according to a report by the professional services firm Aon.

Hiring Trends

Another 33 per cent of firms will keep CA and CS hiring unchanged, while only 11 per cent intend to cut positions. This group leads all tracked segments with a net hiring intent of plus 45 points. Interns follow at plus 20 points, and the others category stands at plus 17 points. Non-engineers show a mildly positive intent of plus 7 points, and diploma holders sit at plus 5 points.

Other Degrees

Experience-based lateral hiring is split evenly, with 40 per cent of firms planning increases and 40 per cent planning cuts. Engineers register a slightly negative net intent of minus 4 points, and MBAs sit at the bottom at minus 10 points. Meanwhile, early staff departures have eased across Indian firms, with the share of companies tracking early attrition among campus hires dropping from 89 per cent last year down to 82 per cent.

Internships

About 91 per cent of organisations hire CA and CS interns, matching figures for traditional arts and science graduates. Around 82 per cent of firms extend job offers to these interns, which is close to the 85 per cent figure recorded for MBAs. At the same time, exam data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India shows that CA Final registrations fell from 132,007 in May 2017 down to 99,466 by May 2025. September 2025 registrations dropped further to 81,852. Women made up about 41 per cent of registrations in May 2025, up from roughly 35 per cent in May 2015.

Context

Financial professionals play a vital role in corporate governance, taxation, and auditing across businesses of all sizes. When company demand outpaces the number of newly qualified professionals entering the workforce, firms often compete more aggressively for available talent. This dynamic highlights the ongoing adjustment between professional education pipelines and corporate hiring needs in India's job market.