Private banks up the ante on campus hiring in hunt for niche, tech expertise

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : The banking hiring cycle has turned, as India’s top campuses are feeling the momentum again and premier engineering and business schools are humming. In the hushed corridors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses and the polished atriums of top business schools, recruiters from private lenders and foreign banks are back in force, testing and interviewing candidates, and handing out offer letters to the best fits.

The placement websites display the names of ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HSBC India, IDFC First Bank, Citibank, Axis Bank and growing list of global wealth‑management names. Banking, financial services and insurance firms have not just returned to campuses, they have arrived with a sharper focus, deeper pockets and a very clear script for where the talent will go. Last year, the picture looked very different.The post-pandemic frenzy in hiring had ebbed, and lenders were also hiring fewer people due to slow attrition and higher dependency on contract employees.

Financial firms' return to campuses points to a structural shift in how financial firms are building for the future. As banks expand global capability centres, deepen wealth businesses and place engineers at the heart of their core systems, recruitment is increasingly about strengthening digital muscle and long-term competitiveness, not merely filling vacancies. The campus hiring push also coincides with banks reporting strong credit growth on the back of a nascent comeback in corporate credit demand.