India’s white-collar hiring grew 14 per cent year-on-year in August, led by auto, healthcare and retail sectors. Hyderabad recorded the strongest metro growth at 23 per cent, while fresher hiring rose 15 per cent, according to Naukri JobSpeak data
Published Date – 8 September 2026, 12:56 PM
Mumbai: India’s white-collar hiring registered a 14 per cent year-on-year growth in August, driven by sectors including auto, healthcare and retail, a report said on Tuesday.
The overall Naukri JobSpeak Index touched 3,028 compared to 2,664 in August last year, according to a report by Naukri.com, Info Edge’s flagship brand.
August saw hiring growth across both IT and non-IT sectors and across experience levels. However, the hiring growth needs to be viewed in the context of the festive calendar, with a larger part of the festive period falling in August last year and shifting to September this year.
“We will have a clearer view of the underlying hiring trend as we move through the festive quarter,” Info Edge (India) Ltd MD and CEO Hitesh Oberoi said.
The Naukri JobSpeak report is a monthly index that tracks trends in India’s job market and hiring activity, based on new job postings (including free job listings) and recruiter searches on Naukri.com’s platform.
The report further revealed that the auto sector recorded strong hiring growth at 19 per cent, followed by healthcare at 16 per cent and retail at 15 per cent.
Among other key sectors, insurance grew at 12 per cent YOY, followed by IT at 11 per cent, banking and FMCG at 10 per cent each, and BPO/ITES, oil and gas and real estate at 8 per cent each.
Pharma/Biotech remained flat, while hospitality and travel witnessed a 4 per cent decline in hiring, and education saw an 8 per cent drop, it added.
Hiring remained positive at all experience levels, with fresher recruitment witnessing a growth of 15 per cent YoY, while for 4-7 years it rose 10 per cent, the report said.
Mid-to-senior experience bands also recorded strong growth, with hiring up 16 per cent for 8-12 years, 18 per cent for 13-16 years and 13 per cent for over 16 years, it added.
Among metros, Hyderabad led hiring growth at 23 per cent YoY, followed by Kolkata at 22 per cent, Chennai at 20 per cent, Bengaluru and Pune at 14 per cent each, Delhi NCR at 10 per cent and Mumbai at 7 per cent.
While in emerging cities, including Bhubaneswar (32 per cent), Raipur (23 per cent), Surat (21 per cent) and Ranchi (19 per cent) recorded strong growth, the report added.