CA, CS Hiring 2026: 56% Companies Plan To Increase Recruitment, Survey Finds

Indian companies are showing strong demand for Chartered Accountants (CA) and Company Secretaries (CS), with more than half of the organisations surveyed planning to increase hiring in this segment. According to global professional services firm Aon’s Campus Study Report 2026-27, 56 per cent of organisations plan to hire more CA and CS candidates.

Another 33 per cent of organisations expect their hiring to remain unchanged, while only 11 per cent plan to reduce recruitment of CA and CS professionals. This gives the category a net hiring intent of +45 percentage points, the highest among all talent groups covered in the report.

CA And CS Record Highest Hiring Intent

The survey shows a clear difference in hiring plans across qualifications. Interns recorded a net hiring intent of +20 points, followed by the “Others” category at +17 points. Non-engineering graduates and diploma holders recorded relatively modest positive intent of +7 and +5 points, respectively.

Hiring plans for experienced professionals, or lateral hires, were evenly divided, with 40 per cent of organisations planning to increase and another 40 per cent planning to reduce such recruitment.

Engineers recorded a net hiring intent of -4 points, while MBA hiring stood at -10 points, with 44 per cent of organisations planning to reduce MBA recruitment compared with 34 per cent planning to increase it.

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91% Companies Hire CA, CS Interns

The demand for CA and CS talent is not limited to full-time recruitment. Around 91 per cent of organisations surveyed hire CA-CS interns.

The transition from internships to full-time employment is also common. About 82 per cent of organisations extend pre-placement interviews or offers to CA and CS interns. This is comparable with other major qualification groups, including BTech/MTech and MBA graduates.

The findings suggest that internships continue to be an important entry route for students pursuing CA and CS.

CA Final Registrations Decline From 2017 Peak

The hiring trend comes against a decline in the number of candidates registering for the CA Final examination.

According to data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), CA Final registrations stood at 1,32,007 in May 2017, the highest figure in the period covered. By May 2025, registrations had fallen to 99,466, a decline of around 25 per cent. Registrations for the September 2025 attempt stood at 81,852, nearly 38 per cent below the May 2017 peak.

Women’s Share Among CA Aspirants Rises

While the overall registration pool has declined, the share of women candidates has increased. Women accounted for around 35 per cent of registrations in May 2015, compared with about 41 per cent in May 2025 and September 2025.

The Aon findings therefore point to a notable trend in the hiring market: companies are planning to recruit more CA and CS professionals even as the pool of CA Final aspirants has become smaller compared with its earlier peak.

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