The IT sector reported a slight dip in hiring for March while demand for specialised skills continued to grow. Data from the Naukri JobSpeak Index showed the white collar job market falling to 2618 recently — down from 2657 a year ago. Meanwhile the emerging-tech subsector comprising companies working with cryptocurrencies and blockchain witnessed 36% growth during this time.
The report noted that the job market now appeared to indicate a clear preference for ‘specialised’ technical roles. Machine learning engineers headed the list with a growth of 88% while search engineers followed with a 39% surge.
According to the Naukri.com report based on JobSpeak Index data, IT startups also witnessed a growth of 11% in March 2025. The trend was also mirrored in other major sectors — ending close to the base from last year. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning emerged as the major outlier with hiring growth of 25% year on year.
The report revealed that Chennai had emerged as an unicorn-hiring powerhouse in March — leading the list with a 29% growth in recruitment. The Delhi-NCR region followed closely behind with 23% growth while Hyderabad ranked third with a 17% uptick.
According to the report, professionals with more than 16 years of experience remained in high demand across different industries. Growth ranged from 10% to 29% in the auto, banking, FMCG and internet or e-commerce sectors — with cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Hyderabad actively seeking senior talents.
Which were the sectors with the sharpest declines?
Several traditional industries faced hiring slowdowns in March — with the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors reporting a 12% drop. Real estate and construction also saw hiring decline 10% year on year amid fluctuating demand and high interest rates. The FMCG and retail sector also recorded an 8% decline in March.