India’s white-collar hiring has entered a sustained slowdown after touching a high in February, with companies pulling back on fresh recruitment. According to the latest foundit report, the hiring index has fallen for four consecutive months – from 404 in February to 385 in March, 370 in April, 348 in May and 331 in June, representing an 18% decline from the February peak. Hiring in June was 9% lower than a year ago and 5% below May, signalling that employers have become increasingly cautious amid an uncertain business environment.
The slowdown has been most visible in sectors exposed to the international trade, the report showed. In June, for instance, import & export sector hiring dropped 30% year-on-year, the steepest decline among all industries tracked. The trend is a continuation of the moderation seen over the past few months.
“The pullback reflects softer external trade volumes, tighter shipment activity, and reduced hiring by customs and trade-compliance functions as cross-border movement of goods cools. The decline (in import & export) sits alongside similarly steep falls in chemicals & plastics (-28% year-on-year) and logistics & transportation (-23%) – three sectors whose fortunes are tightly linked to the same underlying trade and manufacturing cycle,” the report noted.
Other sectors that have registered considerable fall in hiring includes retail (-18% year-on-year), energy (-12%), BFSI (-9%) and IT Software & Services (-6%). “The pullback is broad-based: most industries and functions softened month-on-month. A handful of consumer- and care-led sectors are still growing, but they aren’t enough to offset declines in IT services, BFSI, retail and outsourcing,” the report stated.
GCC Ecosystem Defies
However, India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) story continues to run against the wider trend. The report said that the GCC hiring rose 11% year-on-year in June, and the sector is projected to reach 510,452 jobs in 2026, a 12% increase over last year. India’s GCC hiring has jumped 3.4 times since 2021, reaching 227,991 jobs in the first half of 2026 alone, while the number of GCCs has expanded to around 2,120, as per report.
The nature of GCC hiring is also changing fast. In 2021, the share of GCC roles requiring AI capabilities stood at just 11%, but this number is set to rise substantially as nearly two in three new roles (64%) will require AI skills. At the same time, technology & software and BFSI together accounted for 56% of all GCC hiring, highlighting the country’s evolution from a back-office destination to an innovation hub.
“Companies are no longer setting up GCCs simply to reduce costs. They are building them to develop the AI, engineering and product capabilities that run their global businesses. India offers the depth of talent to do this at scale, and the growing pull of tier-2 cities shows how far that capability now extends beyond the traditional metros,” said Tarun Sinha, CEO at foundit.
Travel and Tourism Lead
Despite the broader weakness, some sectors continued to add jobs. The travel & tourism sector emerged as the strongest performer in June, with hiring rising 35% year-on-year. The report attributed the surge to a recovery in both leisure and corporate travel, expansion of regional airline and airport operations, and continued investment in hotel and hospitality footprints. Besides this, healthcare & pharmaceuticals (11%), automotive (9%), and construction & engineering and real estate (5% each) also reported positive hiring growth, indicating that companies in these sectors continue to recruit in a market where most categories are contracting.