Telcos hiring down to 30% in FY25, job additions will be seen in 5G roles, and for expansion plans, says report

Workforce growth in India's telecom sector is expected to contract to 30 per cent or 67.9 lakh in FY25, compared to 31 per cent recorded in FY24 and 51 per cent in FY23, the Economic Times reported, citing data from TeamLease and Quess Corp.

The reason for the fall was the lower capex of India's two largest telcos — Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel — which have completed their 5G expansion plans, it said.

Overall, telcos are likely to employ 67.9 lakh workers in FY25, at a growth rate of 29.5 per cent, ET reported citing TeamLease.

Job Additions Expected

However, the other major players, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (state-owned BSNL) and Vodafone Idea are expected to add 30,000 jobs across segments for their expansion plans and 5G roll-out, respectively, the report added, citing Quess Corp.

Further, Airtel and Jio are expected to add 50,000 jobs over the coming two to three years for the rural expansion of 5G and network support work.

Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at Quess Corp, told the paper that the telecom industry remains among the top five employers in India. This includes direct and indirect jobs in the cloud, data centres, infrastructure, retail, and technology segments.

Sumit Kumar, chief business officer of TeamLease Degree Apprenticeships, told the paper that positions for cell site repair staff, customer relationship executives, field sales executives, fibre repair executives, installation engineers, and retail executives continue to be "actively recruited." The average worker age in field operations and infra roles is 18-29 years, maintaining a 56.8 per cent young workforce.

Apprenticeships & skilled workforce

The TeamLease report ET noted an increase in apprenticeships at telcos. In the last two years, telecom companies added 37 percent (22,198 in FY24) apprentices in assembly line operator, in-store promoter, network engineer, and telecom tower technician roles, it added.

It also noted that there is a 25 lakh strong gap in demand and supply for skilled workers in the telecom and technology industries, adding that India will require 2.2 crore workforce by 2025 for network and hardware-related roles (i.e. 5G, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and robotics).