Daijiworld Media Network- New Delhi
New Delhi, May 1: India's white-collar job market has begun the financial year 2025-26 on a robust note, with a 9% year-on-year increase in hiring, according to a latest report by leading job portal Naukri.com released on Thursday.
The surge has been largely driven by core growth sectors including pharmaceuticals (+14%), real estate (+11%), global capability centres (GCCs) (+10%), and oil & gas (+9%), reflecting a widespread rebound in employment sentiment across industries.
While the IT/software services sector grew modestly by 3%, demand for specialised tech roles remained strong, especially for full stack data scientists (+30%), Big Data testing engineers (+26%), and data platform specialists (+28%). The hiring growth among unicorns (+15%) also outpaced that of foreign multinationals, indicating a continued push from digital-first enterprises.
In the pharma and biotech space, job creation was buoyed by increasing demand for life sciences professionals (+20%) and R&D specialists (+16%). Meanwhile, cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Pune emerged as the top hubs for emerging roles.
The oil and gas sector, which saw a slump in March, rebounded sharply with hiring rising across procurement and supply chain roles (+25%), and sales/business development (+12%), as the sector realigned with growth expectations.
Fresher hiring also showed a promising 6% YoY rise, with significant opportunities opening up in FMCG (+16%), media & entertainment (+15%), oil & gas (+23%), and beauty & wellness (+26%). Interestingly, the 13–20 LPA salary segment for freshers saw the highest growth at 22% YoY, signalling rising demand for premium entry-level talent across industries.
"After a few soft months of mid-single-digit growth, it is encouraging to see double-digit growth in several core sectors this year," said Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com.
With diversification in hiring trends and strong demand across emerging sectors, India’s job market appears poised for continued growth and resilience in the months ahead.