The economic downturn has yet to rock the job market for chartered accountants, according to the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India, which expects companies’ recruitments to increase.

The Institute is expecting a more than 20 per cent increase in the number of chartered accountants bagging jobs in the second leg of its biannual placement programme beginning Monday. Fifty eight companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Vedanta Resources, and ITC Ltd will recruit at the job fair. In March, 57 companies recruited 903 accountants; this time, it is expected to be 1,100.

In 2012, 1,480 CAs were taken on board through the recruitment drive organised by ICAI. The accountants’ body expects this to touch 2,000 this year.

Vijay Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Committee for Members in Industry, Institute of Chartered Accountants in India, said each company at this year’s job fair will shortlist 15 candidates for every vacancy, and each student can bag a maximum of four offers. Out of the 8,000 students who cleared the CA examination in May, only 4,800 registered for employment assistance with ICAI. Gupta said the others have either found jobs with top auditing firms in the country or have gone on their own.