There was a notable 10 per cent increase in white-collar hiring activity compared in October to the same month last year claims a report by Naukri.com, a job hunt website. The monthly report titled ‘Naukri JobSpeak Index’ observes that the growth is largely fueled by a surge in recruitment across several key sectors, including oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and information technology (IT).
The Index demonstrated robust growth in October, reaching 2,733 points compared to 2,484 in the same month of 2023, marking a significant 10 per cent year-on-year increase.
Key sectors driving positive trends in the job market include oil and gas (18 per cent), pharmaceuticals and biotech (12 per cent), fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) (8 per cent), and information technology (IT) (6 per cent).
Roles in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) are also witnessing remarkable growth at 39 per cent year-on-year, according to the report.
Hiring in the IT sector has shown positive growth in four out of the seven months of the current financial year, indicating promising trends for the remainder of the year.
The report also revealed that global capability centers (GCCs) have demonstrated consistent growth, with a 17 per cent year-on-year increase recorded in October. GCCs are also gaining traction in emerging hubs such as Kolkata (68.46 per cent) and Ahmedabad (47.68 per cent), suggesting a growing preference among international companies to expand operations beyond traditional tech centres in India.
During the festive season, there was significant growth in data-focused positions, including data/big data testing engineers (64 per cent), full-stack data scientists (46 per cent), data platform engineers (26 per cent), and data scientists (23 per cent).
The report also found that after a sluggish performance throughout 2024, hiring for freshers showed encouraging signs, with a 6 per cent year-on-year growth in October.
In terms of geographical performance, southern states exhibited growth in white-collar hiring, with multiple cities recording strong year-on-year gains.