CA, CS hiring intent leads Indian campus recruitment at 45-point net

Indian companies are showing their strongest hiring appetite for chartered accountants (CAs) and company secretaries (CSs), even as the pool of CA aspirants has been shrinking, according to Aon’s Campus Study Report 2026-27 and data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

About 56% of organisations surveyed by global professional services firm Aon said they plan to increase hiring of CAs and CSs. Another 33% expect hiring to remain unchanged, while only 11% plan to reduce it.

That gives the CA-CS segment a net hiring intent of +45 percentage points, the highest among all talent categories tracked in the survey.

The findings come as overall campus hiring patterns show a more mixed picture. Interns have a net hiring intent of +20 points, followed by the “Others” category at +17. Non-engineers stand at +7 and diploma holders at +5.

By comparison, engineers record a net hiring intent of -4 points, while MBAs are at -10. Lateral hiring is evenly divided, with 40% of organisations planning to increase recruitment and an equal share planning to reduce it.

CA, CS hiring is not limited to full-time roles

The strong demand for CAs and CSs is also visible at the entry level.

Around 91% of organisations surveyed said they hire CA-CS interns. The figure is close to the 94% reported for BTech and MTech interns and 93% for MBA interns. It is also the same as the 91% reported for BA, BCom, BSc and MA, MCom, MSc graduates.

The pathway from internship to full-time employment is similarly established. About 82% of organisations offer pre-placement interviews or job offers to CA-CS interns.

The corresponding figures are 85% for MBA interns, 83% for BA, BCom and BSc graduates and 81% for BTech and MTech candidates.

The numbers suggest that companies are not simply experimenting with CA and CS hiring. These qualifications are already part of established campus recruitment pipelines.

CA aspirant pool has declined

The demand-side picture becomes more striking when viewed alongside ICAI data on CA Final registrations.

Registrations for the CA Final examination reached 132,007 in May 2017, the highest level in the period covered. By May 2025, registrations had dropped to 99,466, a decline of about 25%.

The September 2025 attempt recorded 81,852 registrations, nearly 38% below the May 2017 peak.

The number of candidates qualifying as CAs has also varied significantly between attempts. A total of 20,446 candidates cleared the examination in May 2024, the highest figure in the data provided. Another 11,500 qualified in November 2024, taking the combined number of new CAs from the two 2024 attempts to 31,946.

The May and September 2025 attempts together produced 25,713 qualifiers, about 20% fewer than the corresponding 2024 total.

Women account for a larger share of CA aspirants

While the overall registration pool has contracted, the gender composition has shifted.

Women accounted for about 35% of CA Final registrations in May 2015, with 43,488 registrations out of 123,152. By May 2025, their share had increased to about 41%, with 41,009 registrations out of 99,466.

The September 2025 attempt also recorded a female share of around 41%.

The data therefore points to two simultaneous trends: a smaller overall pool of CA aspirants and a growing proportion of women among those appearing for the examination.

Demand and supply move in different directions

Taken together, the Aon and ICAI figures present a notable picture of the professional hiring market.

More than half of the organisations surveyed plan to increase CA and CS hiring, giving the segment the highest net hiring intent among the qualifications studied. At the same time, CA Final registrations remain below their 2017 peak, while the number of candidates qualifying has fluctuated across examination attempts.

For employers, the findings point to sustained demand for finance, accounting, compliance and corporate governance talent. For students and aspirants, the data highlights a recruitment market where demand for CA and CS skills is rising even as the potential supply of candidates appears more constrained than it was a decade ago.