upGrad, Asia’s higher EdTech giant, has released its first Career Trends Report for the month of April – September 2021, highlighting the dynamic Hiring & Compensation trends observed across sectors like Technology, New Economy, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) and Media & Entertainment.
Aligned with the trends witnessed by the industry during this period, technology roles were in great demand and in this regard.
The upGrad Career report underlines the top 5 roles which recorded the highest demand from employers to include Data Scientists, Data Engineers, Digital Marketers, Management Graduates and Product Managers.
The report also suggests an increased demand for upGrad’s Technology offerings from their learners, with Executive PG Programme in Data Science and Executive PG Programme in Machine Learning & AI garnering the highest intent and enrollments, followed closely by non-tech offerings like Advanced Certificate in Digital Marketing & Communication.
Furthermore, upGrad witnessed an increase in hiring by 57% from JFM to AMJ, 2021 and 12% from AMJ to JAS, 2021, with the Q-o-Q increase in Career Transitions, peaking at 1233% (Q1, 2020 versus Q1, 2021) and 1149% (Q2, 2020 versus Q2, 2021). With the transitions, upGrad has witnessed a steady increase in the career hikes being awarded to their learners. upGrad learners have received career hikes ranging from 180% - 450% after course completion. In fact, 7.71% of upGrad learners were awarded CTCs over INR 25 lacs, while 7.86% of the learners received multiple job offers. Learners received offers from an array of leading companies including Amazon, Oracle, Accenture, Microsoft, TCS, Capgemini and Publicis Media Group, among others.
The report reflects on the two key EdTech trends witnessed in the year gone by: one underscores the significant capital inflows into EdTech leading to consolidation, emphasizing the huge opportunity and value it presents in terms of being future-ready. The second is the influx of universities going online, which has overcrowded the market with courses while bringing up the age-old challenge of quality over quantity. Looking forward, 2022 is set to be an interesting year for the EdTech sector, with outcomes and profitability coming to the forefront, while India is poised to emerge as a global thriving hub for edtech and education with a focus on digital learning.
Commenting on the upGrad Career Trends Report, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder, and MD, upGrad added, “At upGrad we are committed to driving meaningful career outcomes for our learners and the data from our Career Report is a testimony to that. With this report, we aim to bridge the prevailing gaps in the job market information, and help our learner and employer audiences make smart, fact-based choices.”
Speaking about the upGrad Career Trends Report, Managing Founder, Ajay Shah, and Co-Founder & Head Placements of upGrad Rekrut, Husain Tinwala, said, "As a result of the pandemic the pace of offshoring and start-up ecosystems has increased significantly and therefore, we are witnessing an increased interest from employers to hire superior technologists and management professionals. Businesses are showcasing the value they ascribe to such roles through a significant rise in the salary packages, multiple offers and even ESOPs are being rolled out to professionals, who have acquired hands-on industry-relevant skills. Therefore, with the ensuing talent war, businesses are focused on hiring the best talent, and they are open to meeting the opulent demands of the professionals to achieve their goals. Such radical changes in the hiring and compensation approach are also pushing learners to upskill themselves to leverage the mammoth opportunity at hand. The upGrad Career Report is a testament to the current industry trends and it enumerates the career transitions we have witnessed, in the hiring and compensation function."
The report has also thrown light on some of the changes in hiring techniques that do not just put the safety on top but also make hiring exceedingly effective, and time and cost-efficient. Most of the companies have adopted tech-based hiring. An estimated 85% of the recruiters use virtual interviewing, 56% deploy virtual screening, and 54% onboard joinees virtually. To conclude, nearly 58% of today’s recruiters have adopted or plan to adopt technological tools in the hiring process, while 40% use or will use data-driven insights.
With over 2 million learners, 700 industry experts, and placements in 1000+ top companies, upGrad mobilizes vast pools of learning and placements data. The upGrad Career Report is developed in partnership with Valuvox and is a product of the mining of all this data, along with widely published job market trends.
Founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh in 2015, upGrad offers higher education courses in collaboration with various universities. At present, the upskilling platform has partnered with over 300 universities with a user base of 2 million.
Mumbai-based upGrad entered the unicorn club in August this year after raising a total of $185 million from Temasek, International Finance Corporation. Since its inception, the EdTech major has been 100% owned, funded, and run by its co-founders and a capital-efficient business.
