The number of people working in corporate has decreased, the salary of laborers has increased more, what is the reason?

According to the reports of Work India and Naukri Job Speak Index, an interesting paradox is being seen in the job market of India. While on one hand there has been an increase in white collar jobs i.e. jobs in corporate offices, on the other hand there has been a rapid increase in the wages of blue collar jobs i.e. wages of unskilled or small scale employees. The Work India report claims that there has been an increase of 12 percent in jobs in the white collar job market in February 2026. On the other hand, according to the report of Naukri Job Speak Index, the salaries of manual labor workers are increasing at the rate of 8.60 percent annually, which is more than the increase in white collar jobs.

In the blue collar sector, which includes factory workers, technicians, drivers and field workers, companies are now trying to attract workers by offering higher salaries. The main reason behind this is the shortage of workers and increasing demand. Industries need people for work but workforce is not available, due to which salaries have to be increased.

Whereas, a different trend is being seen in the white collar job market. Here companies are recruiting in large numbers but only for those people who have special skills apart from degree. Especially in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and IT, the demand for skilled professionals has increased rapidly. This means that now it is not enough to just have a degree, but it has become important to have the necessary skills. Now the question arises that what is the reason for increase in salary of blue collar jobs?

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claim in report

workindia According to a recent report, the minimum salary of blue collar employees was Rs 14,056 in the year 2024, which will increase to Rs 15,756 in 2025. Whereas the starting salary of white collar employees was Rs 14,760, which will increase to Rs 15,756 in 2025. It is clear from the comparison of both that the increase in salary of white collar job is less as compared to blue collar job. The report also claims that the salaries of delivery boys, cabs and other drivers have increased by 16 percent, while the salaries of those working in factories have increased by 11 percent.

This has happened due to the rapid increase in demand for consumer services in the country. Since the demand is more than the number of working people, salaries in this sector have also increased. On the contrary, in white collar jobs, companies are hiring more people and making them work at lower salaries.

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Hiring increased in white collar

Naukri Jobspeak IndexAccording to the report, hiring in white collar jobs has increased in February. The report claims that annual hiring in the corporate sector has increased by 12 percent from 2,890 in February 2025 to 3,233 in February 2026. According to the report, people with good skills have been hired in the corporate sector. Freshers have also been given jobs in corporate jobs. There has been an increase of 17 percent in the recruitment of freshers, while the demand for jobs with an annual salary of more than Rs 20 lakh has increased by 23 percent.

There has been an increase of 55 percent in the number of Indian Multi National Companies (MNCs) working in the IT sector on an annual basis. It is clear from these figures that there has been an increase in recruitment in white collar jobs. Due to this, more and more people are getting jobs but the salaries are not increasing as per expectations.

This change has divided the job market into two parts. On the one hand, there are blue collar jobs, where salaries are rising rapidly due to low skills but high demand. On the other hand, there are white collar jobs, where opportunities are increasing, but competition has also become equally intense and only qualified candidates are able to take advantage of these opportunities.