New Delhi, March 4 (IANS): Hiring for roles in artificial intelligence (AI) and Oil & Gas sectors has witnessed a growth of over 20 per cent in the month of February 2024, a new report showed on Monday.

According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, AI-related roles such as Machine Learning Engineer and Full Stack AI Scientist jumped a staggering 100 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, in February 2024 vs last year.

In the Oil & Gas sector, hiring increased by 21 per cent in February this year compared to last year. Hiring in the Pharma sector recorded a 9 per cent growth.

"This month’s JobSpeak index underscores a transformative shift in India's hiring landscape, with remarkable hiring growth seen in Oil & Gas, Pharma, and in AI sectors, against a backdrop of cautious optimism," said Dr Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer of Naukri.com.

According to the report, non-metro cities continued to witness ever-increasing demand for new talent as hiring corrections continued in metro cities.

In February 2024, Raipur led new job creation in the non-metro cities with a 14 per cent growth over last year, followed by Surat, Jodhpur, and Gandhinagar with 12 per cent, 10 per cent, and 8 per cent growth, respectively.

Senior professionals with more than 16 years of experience continued to witness maximum job offer rollouts.

Job offers in the salary range of more than 20 lakh per annum went up by 23 per cent in February.