India’s white-collar job market showed strong signs of recovery in June, with overall hiring activity rising 11% month-on-month, led by the services sector, robust fresher intake, and a surge in demand for AI-related roles. However, the IT services segment continued to face headwinds, reflecting persistent global uncertainty and weak discretionary tech spending.
According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, hiring grew across major sectors, with advertising/PR/events leading at 22%, followed by hospitality (21%), BPO/ITES (19%), and media & entertainment (16%). Unicorns ramped up hiring by 30%, while the insurance sector emerged as the top performer with a 32% increase, driven in large part by a 59% spike in fresher recruitment.
Freshers saw renewed opportunities across sectors and cities, marking a double-digit rise in hiring. Coimbatore stood out with a 24% surge in fresher recruitment. Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai remained key hubs for startup hiring, registering growth of 22%, 32%, and 21%, respectively. Pune’s overall 4% hiring uptick was fuelled by a 26% rise in unicorn recruitment, while Kolkata and Bengaluru powered hiring momentum in FMCG.
Despite a modest rebound in certain IT sub-segments, overall IT services hiring declined 4.8% year-on-year (YoY) and 3.2% month-on-month (MoM), making it the third YoY decline in five months. Lateral hiring in IT remains subdued and largely need-based, as firms continue to focus on cost optimisation, productivity, and enhancing utilisation.
Dr Pawan Goyal, chief business officer at Naukri.com, said: “What stood out in June was the sharp pickup in hiring across core service sectors like hospitality and BPO/ITES. It was also encouraging to see IT hiring turn positive after a muted spell, especially with strong demand emerging from tier-II cities. Fresher hiring in non-tech sectors continues to gain traction, reflecting expanding opportunities for young professionals.”
AI/ML job roles, however, bucked the trend, registering a 25% YoY surge—one of the sharpest spikes among job categories. Demand was seen across metro cities, especially for senior professionals, although fresher hiring in the segment has also gained momentum.
The BPO/ITES/CRM segment rose 4% YoY but dipped 1.4% MoM. Hiring in Global Capability Centres (GCCs) slipped 5% YoY, indicating a cautious outlook amid global economic concerns. Meanwhile, sectoral gains in accounting/finance (20%), media (18%), and architecture (10%) helped shore up overall hiring momentum.
On the other hand, several sectors posted YoY declines, including strategy/management consulting (-16%), BFSI (-9%), retail (-9%), telecom (-8%), healthcare (-3%), and auto (-2%). City-wise, Hyderabad and Kochi saw YoY growth of 7% and 8%, respectively—largely driven by demand for senior professionals.
India’s top IT companies, including TCS, Infosys, and Wipro, have announced plans to hire 40,000, 20,000, and 10,000–12,000 freshers, respectively, in FY26 — highlighting a continued reliance on campus hiring to manage costs and rebalance talent pyramids.
While hiring activity has rebounded in many pockets of the economy, experts caution that full-scale IT hiring revival may take time. For now, fresher recruitment and specialised tech roles, particularly in AI, are steering the recovery forward.