New Delhi [India], August 3 : India's white-collar hiring market gained momentum in July, with hiring rising 5 per cent year-on-year as demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning talent remained strong and IT recruitment returned to positive growth, according to the Naukri JobSpeak Index.
The Naukri JobSpeak Index rose to 3,227 in July from 3,074 in the same month last year, marking a positive start to the second quarter of the current fiscal year. AI/ML roles remained the strongest-performing segment, registering 33 per cent YoY growth in July. According to the report, AI/ML hiring has maintained growth for more than two years, making it one of the most consistent growth areas in India's white-collar employment market.
The IT/Software Services sector recorded 6 per cent YoY growth in July, turning positive after an uneven performance over the past year. Within the sector, AI hiring increased 30 per cent, while IT and Information Security roles grew 23 per cent.
Demand for senior AI/ML professionals remained particularly strong. Hiring for candidates with 13-16 years of experience increased 67 per cent YoY, while hiring in the 16-plus years category rose 49 per cent and the 8-12 years band grew 40 per cent. At the higher end of the salary spectrum, hiring in the Rs 50 lakh-plus annual salary band increased 64 per cent, while the Rs 40-49 lakh band rose 62 per cent.
Insurance led sectoral hiring growth in July with a 10 per cent increase, followed by real estate at 8 per cent. Healthcare and IT grew 6 per cent each, while BPO/ITES and FMCG recorded 5 per cent growth. However, hiring declined in education, hospitality and travel, pharma/biotech, banking and financial services, and telecom.
Fresher hiring remained positive, growing 6 per cent YoY, with emerging cities driving much of the momentum. Jaipur recorded 27 per cent growth in fresher hiring, followed by Coimbatore at 19 per cent and Kochi at 16 per cent.
Among major cities, Kolkata led overall hiring growth at 17 per cent, followed by Hyderabad at 16 per cent and Chennai at 11 per cent.
GCC hiring also rose 5 per cent nationally, with Chennai recording a 34 per cent increase and Hyderabad 22 per cent.
Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO of Info Edge (India), said the July trends indicate a market "steadily gaining momentum", with IT hiring, AI talent demand and fresher recruitment pointing towards investment in future-ready skills and workforce expansion.